The story is written as poetry, and the author, Angela Joy, included resources and connections to notable and newsworthy events in history that go along with this book. This means that there are many segues to expand a child's knowledge of our history and world. She also includes poems and a timeline of Black Ethnonyms in America, so this book can grow with your child. It could be read to a very small child, but it can also be used with teens.
The story begins: "Red is a rainbow color. Green sits next to blue. Yellow, orange, violet, indigo, they are rainbow colors, too, but my color is black . . . and there's no black in rainbows."
The first page that has a resource connected to it reads: "Black is a rhythm. Black is the blues. Black is side-walking in spit-shined shoes." When you turn to the back of the book, Angela Joy explains "Side-walking in spit-shined shoes" and the connection to the Montgomery bus boycott.
I appreciate how versatile this book is and can image it being a favorite of many children as they discover and then rediscover it again as they grow and see that it offers more than they realized.
Ekua Holmes is the artist behind the bold, vivid, and beautiful illustrations that add to the storybook.
We received a few more donations to our book project last week.
A graduate of our NICU sent these books.
Read to a child today even if that child is you.
Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.
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