The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest
Bookstore, by Vaunda Micheaux
Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, tells the story of a landmark
bookstore located for many years near the corner of 125th Street and
Seventh Avenue in New York City, just around the corner from the Apollo
Theater. To a welcoming community it supplied not only books but a meeting
place, a talking place, a cultural home. It was founded and run for over forty
years by Lewis Michaux. He started his bookstore as a pushcart; “with five
books and a mission…he had something in his heart he believed in” and had to
scratch that itch. Readers are invited to take a wonderful informative leap
into this literary history through the eyes of Lewis’s son Lewis Jr. From the
start, Lewis’s father believed the National Memorial African Bookstore was “The
House of Common Sense and Home of Proper Propaganda,” meaning an outstanding
collection of books by and about black people. Young Lewis remembers with awe
when famous people like Muhammed Ali and Malcolm X came by the bookstore and
sometimes spoke on a platform out front. He remembers that anyone could come in
off the street and read a book, even if they never ever bought one. Lewis’s
father believed that history could be learned by reading books, and people
could learn from each other by sharing ideas: “Knowledge is power. You need it
every hour. READ A BOOK!” Artist R. Gregory Christie combines expressive
paintings with bold aphorisms used by bookseller Michaux, a perfect complement
to the story. A more detailed biography of Lewis Henri Michaux is included at
the end along with an author’s note and selected bibliography for further
reading. This book reminds us in no uncertain terms that bookstores have played
a transformative role in community after community across the nation. One need
only consider such stores as Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.,
and City Lights on the other side of the country in San Francisco and be glad
that in between, thousands of community bookstores welcome customers every day
to experience the power of books and reading. Ages 7-11.
In Sarah Stewart’s The Library, delightfully illustrated by
David Small, we see a passion for books expressed in another way. Fictional
Elizabeth Brown (based on a real person the author knew) “didn’t like to play
with dolls…she didn’t like to skate…she learned to read quite early and at an
incredible rate.” Well, Elizabeth always had a book with her and read wherever
she was. She gathered so many books they were piled on chairs and spread across
the floor; indeed, it became hard to get in the front door. Finally, when
Elizabeth faced the fact that she could not add one more book, she marched to
town hall and donated her books to establish “Elizabeth Brown Free Library.”
Thereafter, she walked to the library to borrow books! Ages 5-9.
