Stanly Community College Library: Children's Books by Theme: African-American Culture

What This Page Contains

Find books on African Americans, African cultures, selected folktales here.

Click on the blue title to link to the SCC Library catalog. There you will find the book's location and if the book is on the shelf.

The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles; George Ford (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0590439677
Publication Date: 1995-02-01
For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

Soul looks back in wonder

Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Tom Feelings (Illustrator, Editor)
ISBN: 0140565019
Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Artwork and poems by such writers as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Askia Toure portray the creativity, strength, and beauty of their African American heritage.

Title Her stories : African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales

Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton
ISBN: 0590473689
Publication Date: 1998-10-01

Grandma's gift

Grandma's Gift by Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780802720825
Publication Date: 2010-10-12
The author describes Christmas at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem the year she introduced him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Henry's freedom box

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine; Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
ISBN: 043977733X
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
A fictionalized account of how in 1849 a Virginia slave, Henry "Box" Brown, escapes to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia.

Please, baby, please

Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee; Tonya Lewis Lee; Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0689834578
Publication Date: 2006-03-21

Thunder Rose

Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen; Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0152164723
Publication Date: 2003-09-01
Unusual from the day she is born, Thunder Rose performs all sorts of amazing feats, including building fences, taming a stampeding herd of steers, capturing a gang of rustlers, and turning aside a tornado.

Martin's big words : the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport; Bryan Collier (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0786807148
Publication Date: 2001-10-01
Life of Martin Luther King Jr

John Henry

John Henry by Julius Lester; Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0140566228
Publication Date: 1999-12-01
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut through a mountain

I Have Heard of a Land

I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas
ISBN: 0060234776
Publication Date: 1998-04-01
Describes the joys and hardships experienced by an African-American pioneer woman who staked a claim for free land in the Oklahoma territory.

K is for Kwanzaa : a Kwanzaa alphabet book

K Is for Kwanzaa by Juwanda G. Ford; Ken Wilson-Max (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0590922009
Publication Date: 1997-10-01

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks by Eloise Greenfield; Gil Ashby (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0060271108
Publication Date: 1996-01-30

Lift ev'ry voice and sing

Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson; Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0590469827
Publication Date: 1995-01-01
An illustrated version of the song that has come to be considered the African American national anthem.

On the Day I Was Born

On the Day I Was Born by Debbi Chocolate; Melodye Rosales (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0590476092
Publication Date: 1995-10-01
Members of an extended African American family celebrate with joy and pride the birth of a first-born son.

Abiyoyo : based on a South African Lullaby and folk story

Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger; Michael Hays (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0689718101
Publication Date: 1994-01-01

Mufaro's beautiful daughters : an African tale

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John L. Steptoe (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0688129358
Publication Date: 1993-10-22
Mufaro's two beautiful daughters, one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife.

Mrs. Katz and Tush

Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
ISBN: 0553081225
Publication Date: 1992-03-01
A long-lasting friendship develops between Larnel, a young African-American, and Mrs. Katz, a lonely, Jewish widow, when Larnel presents Mrs. Katz with a scrawny kitten without a tail.

Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears : a West African tale

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
ISBN: 059010294X
Publication Date: 1980-06-01

Moses : when Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom 1st ed.

Moses by Carole Boston Weatherford; Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0786851759
Publication Date: 2006-08-08
Describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom.

Rosa

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni; Bryan Collier (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0805071067
Publication Date: 2005-10-01
The story of Rosa Parks and her courageous act of defiance

Coming home : from the life of Langston Hughes

Coming Home by Floyd Cooper
ISBN: 0698116127
Publication Date: 1998-02-02

A weed is a flower : the life of George Washington Carver

A Weed Is a Flower by Aliki (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0671664905
Publication Date: 1988-04-15

14 Cows for America

14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy; Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah (Afterword by); Thomas González (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781561454907
Publication Date: 2009-08-01
Maasai tribal members, after hearing the story of the September 11th attacks from a young Massai, who was in New York on that day, decide to present the American people with fourteen sacred cows as a healing gift.

Feathers

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
ISBN: 9780399239892
Publication Date: 2007-03-01
When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.

Coming on home soon

Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson; Earl Lewis (Illustrator); E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780399237485
Publication Date: 2004-10-07
After Mama takes a job in Chicago during World War II, Ada Ruth stays with Grandma but misses her mother

Beautiful blackbird

Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0689847319
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
In a story of the Ila people, the colorful birds of Africa ask Blackbird, whom they think is the most beautiful of birds, to decorate them with some of his "blackening brew."

pet Show!

Pet Show! by Ezra Jack Keats
ISBN: 9780670035045
Publication Date: 2001-09-10
When he can't find his cat to enter in the neighborhood pet show, Archie must do some fast thinking to win a prize.

Come On, Rain

Come on, Rain by Karen Hesse; Jon J. Muth (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780590331258
Publication Date: 1999-03-01
A young girl eagerly awaits a coming rainstorm to bring relief from the oppressive summer heat.

Masai and I

Masai and I by Nancy Carpenter (Illustrator); Virginia Kroll
ISBN: 0689804547
Publication Date: 1997-01-01
Linda, a little girl who lives in the city, learns about East Africa and the Masai in school, and imagines what her life might be like if she were Masai.

A is for Africa

A Is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu (Photographer)
ISBN: 0525651470
Publication Date: 1993-09-01

Dinner at Aunt Connie's house

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House by Faith Ringgold (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0786811501
Publication Date: 1996-09-01
Dinner at Aunt Connie's is even more special than usual when Melody meets not only her new adopted cousin but twelve inspiring African-American women, who step out of their portraits and join the family for dinner.

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the sky

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold
ISBN: 0517885433
Publication Date: 1995-12-12
With Harriet Tubman as her guide, Cassie retraces the steps escaping slaves took on the Underground Railroad in order to reunite with her younger brother.

Emeka's gift : an African counting story

Emeka's Gift by Ifeoma Onyefulu; Alex Ayliffe (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0525652051
Publication Date: 1995-05-01

Seven candles for Kwanzaa

Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney; Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0803712928
Publication Date: 1993-10-06
Describes the origins and practices of Kwanzaa, the seven-day festival during which people of African descent rejoice in their ancestral values

A story, a story : an African tale

A Story, a Story by Gail E. Haley (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0689712014
Publication Date: 1988-02-28
Recounts how most African folk tales came to be called "Spider Stories."

Ashanti to Zulu : African traditions

Ashanti to Zulu by Margaret W. Musgrove; Diane Dillon (Illustrator); Leo Dillon (Editor); Margaret Musgrove
ISBN: 0803703570
Publication Date: 1976-01-01

Why the sun and the moon live in the sky; an African folktale

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky by Elphinstone Dayrell; Blair Lent (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0395296099
Publication Date: 1968-09-09

Moja means one; Swahili counting book

Jambo Means Hello

Jambo Means Hello by Muriel L. Feelings; Tom Feelings
ISBN: 0803744285
Publication Date: 1985-06-01