February is a time to remember and celebrate the black individuals and events that have helped shape our country. Make sure to look into African American History Month events at your locals museums and libraries, and check out our favorite books for the month. Each of the stories highlighted below is a true tale, or based on fact, and can be used to illustrate different points in the history of African Americans:

	Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, Gwen Strauss, Floyd Cooper (illustrator) – While Ruth’s story is fictional, The Green Book that helped a generation of African Americans navigate the Jim Crow South is a piece of our history many may not know about.
	Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson (illustrator) – This true story focuses on one of the Underground Railroad’s most famous runaway slaves and the ingenious idea that brought him to freedom.
	Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown, Frank Morrison (illustrator) – Melba Doretta Liston was a jazz virtuosa at a time when it was unlikely for a woman of any race to arrange, compose, and play music.
	More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradby, Chris K. Soentpiet (illustrator) – Young Booker T. Washington wants to learn to read, but he must spend his days laboring with his father at the salt works. How will he unlock the secrets he knows the books hold?
	Nobody Owns the Sky by Reeve Lindbergh, Pamela Paparone (illustrator) – Daughter of aviator Charles Lindbergh, Reeve Lindbergh uses rhyme to share the story of “Brave Bessie” Coleman, the first licensed black aviatrix in the world.
	Twice as Good by Richard Michelson, Eric Velasquez (illustrator) – William Powell was enchanted by golf from the time he was a child but wasn’t allowed to play because of the color of his skin. Find out how he makes his dream a reality.
	Touch the Sky by Ann Malaspina, Eric Velasquez (illustrator) – Inspire young minds with the story of Alice Coachman, who went from fashioning a high jump with sticks and rags to sailing over crossbars in London to become America’s first African American Olympic gold medalist.
	Philip Reid Saves the Statue of Freedom by Steven Sellers Lapham, Eugene Walton, R. Gregory Christie (illustrator) – Philip Reid, a skilled and enslaved African American, is the only hope when craftsmen working on the U.S. Capitol building are faced with a complicated puzzle. As he works on the Statue of Freedom, he can feel freedom just around the corner for himself and all other enslaved Americans.
	I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer by Carole Boston Weatherford, Eric Velasquez (illustrator) – Matthew Henson was born to sharecropper parents, but would not settle for an ordinary life. How far would he go to defy the odds and reach the North Pole?

posted by Ameesha Sampat

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Tags: activities, booklist, Multicultural Books