Was the Cat in the Hat Black?

Was the Cat in the Hat Black?
Author: Philip Nel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0190635088

Racism is resilient, duplicitous, and endlessly adaptable, so it is no surprise that America is again in a period of civil rights activism. A significant reason racism endures is because it is structural: it's embedded in culture and in institutions. One of the places that racism hides-and thus perhaps the best place to oppose it-is books for young people. Was the Cat in the Hat Black? presents five serious critiques of the history and current state of children's literature tempestuous relationship with both implicit and explicit forms of racism. The book fearlessly examines topics both vivid-such as The Cat in the Hat's roots in blackface minstrelsy-and more opaque, like how the children's book industry can perpetuate structural racism via whitewashed covers even while making efforts to increase diversity. Rooted in research yet written with a lively, crackling touch, Nel delves into years of literary criticism and recent sociological data in order to show a better way forward. Though much of what is proposed here could be endlessly argued, the knowledge that what we learn in childhood imparts both subtle and explicit lessons about whose lives matter is not debatable. The text concludes with a short and stark proposal of actions everyone-reader, author, publisher, scholar, citizen- can take to fight the biases and prejudices that infect children's literature. While Was the Cat in the Hat Black? does not assume it has all the answers to such a deeply systemic problem, its audacity should stimulate discussion and activism.

In Search of the Gingerbread Man

In Search of the Gingerbread Man
Author: Timi Bliss
Publisher:
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2019-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781095373729

A jaunty rhyming tale of Charlie's visit to the Salty Tart bakery to bake a gingerbread man with Chef Michelle. Although she's just a little girl, she's big enough to take the lead to track down the runaway gingerbread man who has made a quick getaway from the oven!The book includes a gingerbread cookie recipe created by Michelle Gayer, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning pastry chef and founder of the Salty Tart bakery. She is a five-time nominee for the highest food industry honor - the prestigious James Beard Award.

SONNY S BLUES

SONNY S BLUES
Author: James Baldwin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 88
Release: 1970
Genre:
ISBN: 9783125765009

The Black Kids

The Black Kids
Author: Christina Hammonds Reed
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1534462724

A New York Times bestseller “Should be required reading in every classroom.” —Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin “A true love letter to Los Angeles.” —Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Little & Lion “A brilliantly poetic take on one of the most defining moments in Black American history.” —Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Grown and Monday’s Not Coming Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots. Los Angeles, 1992 Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer. Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids. As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson. With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?

Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood

Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood
Author: Crystal Lynn Webster
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469663244

For all that is known about the depth and breadth of African American history, we still understand surprisingly little about the lives of African American children, particularly those affected by northern emancipation. But hidden in institutional records, school primers and penmanship books, biographical sketches, and unpublished documents is a rich archive that reveals the social and affective worlds of northern Black children. Drawing evidence from the urban centers of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, Crystal Webster's innovative research yields a powerful new history of African American childhood before the Civil War. Webster argues that young African Americans were frequently left outside the nineteenth century's emerging constructions of both race and childhood. They were marginalized in the development of schooling, ignored in debates over child labor, and presumed to lack the inherent innocence ascribed to white children. But Webster shows that Black children nevertheless carved out physical and social space for play, for learning, and for their own aspirations. Reading her sources against the grain, Webster reveals a complex reality for antebellum Black children. Lacking societal status, they nevertheless found meaningful agency as historical actors, making the most of the limited freedoms and possibilities they enjoyed.

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
Author: Nikole Hannah-Jones
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2021-11-16
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0593307356

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson. A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders. But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived. And the people planted dreams and hope, willed themselves to keep living, living. And the people learned new words for love for friend for family for joy for grow for home. With powerful verse and striking illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, Born on the Water provides a pathway for readers of all ages to reflect on the origins of American identity.

Black Misery

Black Misery
Author: Langston Hughes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2001
Genre: African American children
ISBN: 9780195142983

Hughes takes a child's view of growing up African American in the 1960s.

In Search of the Sandman

In Search of the Sandman
Author: Timi Bliss
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2017-03-31
Genre:
ISBN: 9781544221250

If you and your children enjoy spending quality time together, then you're going to love In Search of the Sandman! Bedtime is sleep time, no matter how long children would like to stay up! One great way to relax busy little minds is to read along together. Snuggling up and reading with your child at bedtime is one of the most enjoyable, nurturing, and special bonding moments we have when parenting. In Search of the Sandman combines beautiful illustrations, bright and vibrant designs, and insightful rhyming to help toddlers and preschoolers relax and lull their way into peaceful sleep. Join author Timi Bliss as she shares her creative interpretation of an imaginative childhood story that has lasted through generations. To see what everyone is already raving about, check out In Search of the Sandman now!