Walt Whitman: Words for America, by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Brian Selznick -- Day 97

Walt Whitman loved words. As young as age twelve he worked as a printer’s apprentice and soon was typesetting articles of his own. He, with the help of his brother George, wrote and printed his own newspaper on Long Island. When he wasn’t working he was exploring the busy streets of Manhattan and the countryside he loved. His travels soon took him further – up and down the country from New York to New Orleans – scribbling in his notebooks all the while, recording his thoughts about the people and the conditions he observed. His heart ached when he saw people enslaved; he worried about the disparity of wealth he witnessed. He began to think about how he could help his country, and writing poetry became his way. “Finally, in 1855, with great care and pride, Walt typeset the pages of Leaves of Grass – his book for all Americans.” He wrote with a new style of poetry, robust and free. Walt was devastated when the country became divided by the Civil War. Though too old to join Union forces himself, he began to visit wounded and dying soldiers in hospitals when his brother was injured; he hoped that his poetry and presence could help. President Abraham Lincoln’s determination to bring the country together inspired him enormously, as did the courage of the soldiers. As always, poetry was his mission; he published Drum-Taps, a book of poetry about the war in which he, once again, captured the voice of the nation. In Walt Whitman: Words for America, author Barbara Kerley provides a superb biography of Whitman; readers get to know him and feel his restless energy through her narrative and Brian Selznick’s inviting images. Ages 7-10.

E. E. Cummings was a twentieth century American poet as in love with words as Whitman. He said poems aloud even before he could write, and his fascination with exploring language continued throughout his life. Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings by Matthew Burgess, beautifully textured with illustrations by Kris Di Giacomo, is all that the publisher describes: a “sensitive and spirited glimpse into the life of E. E. Cummings [that] will spark children’s curiosity about poetry.” Ages 5 up.

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie -- Day 96

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 125^th 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.

The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial, by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis -- Day 95

In The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial, by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis, readers learn about a very long journey that began with one step. More than one hundred years before the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court making school segregation unconstitutional, a family in Boston made their own case for “separate is never equal” in education. In April 1847, four-year-old Sarah Roberts began attending the Otis School near her home. Suddenly one day she was escorted from school by a policeman entrusted with enforcing Boston’s rule that African American children must attend their own school. Such schools were inadequately supplied and very far from home. Sarah’s parents stepped forward to fight this injustice, joining with lawyers Robert Morris and Charles Sumner in a case before the Massachusetts Supreme Court. They lost the case but in the process mobilized the sentiments of many people, both black and white; in 1855, Boston officially integrated its schools. In 1950, young Linda Brown’s family in Topeka, Kansas, joined with two hundred other families in several states to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In May 1954, the court, basically in agreement with Charles Sumner’s argument a century earlier, declared that separate schools can never be equal, outlawing school segregation across the nation. Author Goodman includes an integration timeline, more information about the story’s participants, and her own notes about the importance of seeking historical accuracy in good nonfiction. The courage shown by Sarah Roberts and those who supported her, plus those in later years who persisted in seeking equality, will be evident to young readers. Ages 7-10.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh, tells the story of another brave step in the fight for educational opportunity, one that took place on the other side of the country. Mendez, an American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, was denied access to a school populated by white children. The Hispanic community was joined by civil rights groups supporting a lawsuit that resulted in the 1947 California ruling against segregation in public schools. Ages 9 up.

My Great-Aunt Arizona, by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb -- Day 94

Author Gloria Houston’s great-aunt Arizona was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a log cabin her father built. She was named by her older brother, a cavalryman out West who said: “Please name her Arizona, and she will be beautiful, like this land.” Arizona never saw the land for which she was named, but she did make a big difference right there in the mountains of her home. Arizona loved to explore, to read, and to attend lessons in their one-room school called a blab school because all the students read aloud at once. Eventually Arizona was able to go away to a school where she learned to be a teacher; then she returned to teach in the very community where she grew up. “She grew flowers in every window. She taught students about words and numbers and the distant places they would visit someday.”  When generation after generation of students asked if she had been to faraway places, she said “Only in my mind, but someday you will go.” This graceful picture book is based on a real person — a quiet and loving teacher who meant the world to her students. For fifty-seven years Houston’s great-aunt Arizona hugged, taught and encouraged students; the dedication for My Great-Aunt Arizona reads: “For all teachers, members of the most influential profession in the world.” Susan Condie Lamb’s illustrations convey the beauty of the Blue Ridge setting and Arizona’s warmth. Though today’s classrooms are vastly different one from another and the teaching profession may not seem as clement as it was for Arizona, it remains absolutely true that good teachers hold special places in students’ hearts. Ages 5-8.

Patricia Polacco’s Thank You, Mr. Falker is another true story of an important teacher. Polacco grew up in a book-loving family; she loved to draw and listen to stories. But she spent years as a child unable to decipher letters and numbers on a page, mercilessly teased by classmates for being dumb. That is, until fifth grade when tall, elegant, kind Mr. Falker figured out that she really could not read and, with the help of a reading specialist, unlocked the world of words for Trisha. “The rest of the year became an odyssey of discovery and adventure…” Polacco urges students to remember to say thank you to all the teachers they appreciate! Ages 5-9.