Relates the experiences of a dark-skinned, curly-haired child who wishes he could look more like the lighter-skinned children in his community until his mother helps him realize how wonderful he is inside and out.

A young boy ponders a variety of emotions and how different members of his family experience them, from his own blues to his father's grays and his grandmother's yellows.

Lottie Paris goes to the library, her favorite place in the world, and makes a new friend for whom the library is also a special place.

A boy's love of flight takes him on a journey from the dusty dirt roads of Alabama to the war-torn skies of Europe. Introduces young readers to the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.

Presents a poem celebrating the African-American experience and what it means to be part of a strong, proud, and free people.

A celebration of African-American hair through a review of its different textures, colors, and styles, including cornrows, Afros, and braids, is enhanced with colorful photographs capturing an array of looks and the girls who don them proudly.

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. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Tosh has spent many days in the kitchen with his grandmother, Honey, watching her bake cookies and listening to tales of their slave ancestors, so when Honey's memory starts to fail, Tosh is able to help with the cookies and more. Includes a recipe for tea cakes.

A young girl recalls the stories she has been told about the members of her family and wonders what kind of person she will become.

"From the time she was a little girl, Melba Liston loved music, especially the jazz music that surrounded her while she was growing up, first in Kansas City and then in Los Angeles. Given the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument at age seven, she chose the trombone. It was not a traditional choice for a girl, especially a small girl whose arms weren't even long enough yet to push out the slide. But Melba wasn't a traditional girl. She persisted, and with the support of her family and her teachers, she excelled." [Fictionalized biography of Melba Doretta Liston.] (description from Horn Book)