Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Kevin and his dad | by Smalls, Irene

Kevin loves spending time with his dad. Kevin learns that after he works hard, he can play hard with is dad. Kevin and his dad spend the day cleaning the house, then they play sports and go to the movies. Oh what fun!

Keywords: activities, african american, baseball, beverage, bicycle, body parts, buildings, chores, cleanliness, clothing, dancing, dog, food, friendship, fun, hard work, helping, humor, moving, newspaper, parents, park, restaurant, rhythm, soccer, sports, subway, theatre, transportation, working mother

The bat boy and his violin | by Curtis, Gavin

Reginald loves playing the violin. Every free moment Reginald practices his violin, but his dad wants him to play baseball instead. Reginald does not give up. Soon his dad realizes the value and talent that Reginald has for the violin.

Keywords: acceptance, african american, ambition, baseball, bus, camping, car, celebration, crowd, dedication, discrimination, embarrassment, encouragement, family, feelings, games, happiness, hard work, helping, history, instruments, love, mistake, multicultural, music, performance, practice, relationship, running, sports, transportation

The piano man | by Chocolate, Debbie

A young girl listens to her grandfather share his deep love for music and the piano. Grandfather shares the history of silent movies, Vaudeville, Ragtime, and Broadway. He never lets his passion for music end and continues to share it with his grandaughter.

Keywords: african american, aging, body parts, celebration, clothing, dancing, emotions, family, feelings, film, grandparents, humor, instruments, marriage, medicine, multicultural, music, new baby, opera, performance, presents, relationship, rhythm, sounds, technology, theatre, travel

Up home | by Grant, Shauntay

A young woman of African decent recalls her childhood in her native homeland of Preston, Canada. She remembers long hot days of summer playing with cousins, singing on Sunday mornings, climbing trees and picking blueberries. Gatherings with her family are special celebrations.

Keywords: african american, body parts, canada, celebration, church, climbing, clothing, cooking, family, flowers, food, friendship, fun, garden, glasses, grandparents, history, instruments, love, memory, multicultural, music, nutrition, park, quilt, seasons, song, spiritual, storytelling, woods

Papa's mark | by Battle-Lavert, Gwendolyn

Simms teaches his father how to write. For many years, Simm's father struggled when writing his own name. However, Papa learns just in time so he can vote in the first election which gave Blacks the right to vote.

Keywords: accomplishment, african american, american, animals, bedtime, buildings, change, church, community, cow, crowd, discrimination, education, election, equality, family, food, freedom, hard work, helping, horse, learning, letters, multicultural, night, parents, prejudice, quilt, relationship, school, shopping, signs, teaching, writing

The secret Olivia told me | by Joy, N.

Olivia develops interpersonal skills by realizing how her words affect her friends. Olivia and her best friend realize the importance of honesty and trust in their friendship.

Keywords: african american, balloon, basketball, body parts, books, buildings, colors, excitement, feelings, friendship, italian, jumping, multicultural, playing, relationship, secrets, siblings, soccer, sports, telephone, truth, worry

Mr. George Baker | by Hest, Amy

Harry enjoys spending time with his older next door neighbor, Mr. Baker. Harry likes to wait for the bus with Mr. George Baker. Harry learns about Mr. Baker's life as a musician and learns that a person is never too old to learn to read.

Keywords: african american, aging, autumn, body parts, books, bus, clothing, dancing, education, embarrassment, friendship, fun, generations, happiness, hard work, instruments, learning, love, marriage, multicultural, music, school, seasons, shoes, tobacco, transportation, walking

My kindergarten | by Wells, Rosemary

Kindergarten is no longer a mystery, thanks to Emily who illustrates the lessons and activities in Miss Cribbageﾒs classroom. Many concepts are explored in this kindergarten classroom. Poems, songs, and activities keep the lessons light-hearted and enjoyable.

Keywords: african american, alphabet, art, calendar, celebration, colors, critical thinking, dancing, Days of The Week, decision making, exercise, flowers, hanukkah, hebrew, holidays, kwanzaa, latin, letters, library, maps, math, money, month, moon, multicultural, museum, music, photograph, poetry, politics, rain, school, science, self esteem, sequence, snow, song, temperature, valentine's day, weather, wind

Not norman: A goldfish story | by Bennett, Kelly

When a boy gets Norman, a goldfish, for his birthday he is disappointed. He wants an energetic pet with which to run and play. He makes a plan to take Norman back to the pet store and get another pet. After show and tell at school, he decides to keep him. Norman likes his music and makes him laugh; besides any other pet just wouldnﾒt be the same, they would not be Norman.

John Philip Duck | by Polacco, Patricia

Edward and his father work at a hotel and return home on the weekends. One weekend, Edward finds a motherless duckling near the pond. Edward is permitted by his father to take the duck to work, only if he keeps it out of the hotel managerﾒs sight. When the manager discovers the duck, Edward saves the day by showing the manager how he has trained the duck to march to music by John Philip Sousa. Edward trains many more ducks to live in the hotel fountain.

Keywords: accomplishment, african american, band, birds, conflict resolution, courage, critical thinking, decision making, duck, family, friendship, goal setting, migration, multicultural, music, parents, pets, protection, responsibilities, secrets

Jazzy Miz Mozetta | by Roberts, Brenda C.

One night Miz Mozetta decided that she felt like dancing. Her friends outside made excuses not to dance and the children across the street would not let her. Miz Mozetta sulks to her room, but soon enough her friends and the children show up in her memories ready to dance the jitterbug all night long.

Keywords: african american, aging, bedtime, beverage, clothing, colors, conflict resolution, dancing, exercise, feelings, friendship, happiness, memories, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, radio, sadness, sounds, verbal communication

A sweet smell of roses | by Johnson, Angela

One morning, after a night of rain, Minnie and her sister sneak out of the house to join many men and women to march for freedom and equality. When they arrive at the beginning of the march, the girls walk with many others keeping their eyes straight ahead and their feet steady. Despite the criticism and yells from people standing by, the girls continue to march. As the day passes, more people join the march to where Dr. Martin Luther King gives his famous speech about peace, love, and equality for all.

Keywords: african american, assertiveness, critical thinking, decision making, emotions, equality, exercise, family, feelings, flowers, freedom, history, love, multicultural, nonverbal communication, parade, peace, peer resistance, pride, self esteem, siblings, stereotypes, sun, walking, weather

Sometimes my mommy gets angry | by Campbell, Bebe Moore

When Annie wakes up in the morning, she is relieved to find her euphoric mother in the kitchen. They share a healthy breakfast, then her mother helps her get ready for school. After a fun day at school, Annie comes home to an angry and yelling mother. Annie copes by calling her grandmother to talk about her feelings. She takes care of herself and maintains a positive attitude with happy thoughts. She uses effective strategies to accept her motherﾒs bipolar disorder.

Keywords: acceptance, accomplishment, affection, african american, anger, art, behavior, bipolar, body parts, caring, challenges, conflict resolution, confusion, coping, crisis, decision making, discipline, disobedience, emotions, empathy, encouragement, family, feelings, food, friendship, grandparents, happiness, health, helping, illness, independence, kindness, love, memory, misbehavior, moods, morning, neighbors, night, nonverbal communication, parents, pretend, rain, rhyme, sadness, school, stress management, sun, support, sympathy, teaching, teasing, understanding, verbal communication, walking, weather

The two Tyrones | by Hudson, Wade

Tyrone Rashon Williams goes to school on the first day, excited about his new sneakers that he bought himself. He is disappointed when he gets there and finds that everyone has the same ones, and there is a new student, Tyrone Rashon Williams. Tyrone must deal with both of his problems, and get things back to normal.

Going north | by Harrington, Janice N

Goodbye, Alabama, hello, Lincoln, Nebraska! This family moves from the South to the North so that the papa can find a better job. During their trip up North the family endures a couple struggles, such as the children not wanting to leave their home, the baby crying, and getting restless, and lastly, almost running out of gas! They make it to Nebraska and realize they are together and need to be brave and pioneering.

Keywords: african american, car, cooking, decision making, emotions, family, food, goal setting, listening, maps, multicultural, parents, pioneers, refusal skills, sadness, siblings, song, sounds, storytelling, transportation, travel, verbal communication

I like myself! | by Beaumont, Karen

An African American girl tells about the characteristics she likes about herself and the different circumstances in which she likes herself. She is proud of herself no matter where she is or what silly things she is doing. She knows what really counts is inside her and shares this knowledge in an energetic story with imaginative illustrations.

Keywords: african american, appreciation, assertiveness, body parts, confidence, differences, feelings, happiness, individuality, multicultural, nonverbal communication, rhyme, rhythm, self confidence, self esteem, stress management, uniqueness

The patchwork path: A quilt map to freedom | by Stroud, Bettye

Hannah and her father are slaves who decide to escape to freedom. They use the patterns in the quilt made by her mother, who passed away, to follow the Underground Railroad.

Drumbeat in our feet | by Keeler, Patricia//Leitao, Julio T.

Informative passages and lyrical verse explore the history and rhythmic qualities of traditional African dance as performed long ago and today.

Keywords: africa, african, african american, america, animals, celebration, ceremony, colors, congo, dancing, elephant, ethnic, exercise, generations, geography, history, instruments, learning, maps, monkey, multicultural, music, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, performance, rhythm, storytelling, traditions, village

Boundless grace | by Hoffman, Mary

According to the stories Grace read, her family is not normal. Grace's father lives in Africa while she and her mother live in America. Grace visits her father to learn about his new family and the African culture in Gambia. Grace's visit to Africa helps her to understand that her family is normal.

Keywords: african, african american, change, comparisons, crocodile, divorce, family, grandparents, letters, love, multicultural, parents, reptiles, shopping, siblings, storytelling, travel, vacation, verbal communication

The talking cloth | by Mitchell, Rhonda

Aunt Phoebe has a collection of many wonderful things, each having an interesting story. The little girl's favorite thing is an adinkra cloth from Ghana. It has many colors and symbols to represent feelings, faith, power, and love.

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