Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe

1988 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner

Steptoe, J. (1987). Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale New York, NY: Lorhtrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

Sibling rivalry has existed since the beginning of life. Whether it's lion cubs on their first hunt, trying to impress mother lioness, or Cain and Abel presenting sacrifices for acceptance, every civilization has a story of jealousy, good vs. evil and so forth. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is no different. But what makes this picture book spectacular is its elaborate illustrations. From the title page, the reader's breath is swept away by the luscious attention to detail. Instantly transported into the jubilant jungles of Africa, the illustrations illuminate the text, breathing reality into the quarrelsome nature of Manyara with her docile sister Nyasha. Determined to become queen, Manyara races ahead of her sister to present herself to the king. It's on her journey that Manyara fails a series of tests to determine the caliber of her character. When Manyara has to be rescued by Nyasha, the reader learns who will inherit the crown and why. Using philosophy to teach the difference between selfish and selfless is a lesson that can find use everywhere for any reason. Children need to learn at an early age the value of charity and ambition, for in order to succeed in life, you need a little bit of Nyasha and Manyara within yourself. This picture-book would be great to use in a Socratic discussion about self-worth, selfishness and self-effacing.

My People by Langston Hughes and with illustrations by Charles R. Smith

2010 Illustrator Award Winner

Hughes, L. (2009). My People. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Langston Hughes has consistently captured and immortalized Black life. He gave beauty to the dark pigmented stain of America's longest enslaved. He gave sunlight in the midst of storms that silenced the souls of so many. Charles Smith visualized the once unappreciated ebony faces of the world, whether in the complexity of their hair or the complex vexation of a Black man's stare, Smith makes sure that the simple phenom that is Black edges beyond stereotypes, ascends pass European depictions of beauty and lands on the promised rock of acceptance. It's not "in your face" or militant, "I'm black and I'm proud." It's just a light of focus into the dark beauty of America. Use it to redefine beauty, to reform stereotypes or just to embrace American faces 237 years in the making.

Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices written by Walter Dean Myers

1998 Illustrator Honor Book

Myers, W. (2004) Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices. New York, NY: Holiday House.

Sure as the day is long, most Americans know the plight of the same Americans with darker tone. But what makes Myers' Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices sing joyously beyond obvious struggle and strife, are the perspectives her offers from all characters in life. Everyone knows a students, an unemployed worker and a hustler. We can tell the party-goers from the church-goers, but we can't all voice their thoughts. Myers offers a fantastic lesson in tone and insight through this wonderful collection of Harlem-esque neighbors from his youth. One of the favorite from this collection is from the perspective of Betty Pointing, 64 years old and a clerk. Her husband gets upset when she says "I love you" with a smile. He thinks she's disingenuous. She "can't help smiling when I say it. I truly can't. I smiled the first time I ever seen that man standing at the back of the church, trying to ease out before the service is over." The book is a window into the lives of Harlem's residents. The photographs are of the corner-stoops, newsstand dealers, blues singers pulsating life into the delicious brownie of New York's Manhattan Island.