Great Books on the Importance of Juneteenth!
Title: Juneteenth for Mazie
By: Floyd Cooper
Published: 2015
Little Mazie wants the freedom to stay up late, but her father explains what freedom really means in the story of Juneteenth, and how her ancestors celebrated their true freedom.
Ages 6-9
Call number: JPicture Coope.F
Title: Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
By: Laban Carrick Hill
Published: 2010
Dave was a remarkable artist, poet, and potter who lived in the 1800s in South Carolina. He transcended the constraints he faced as a slave by combining his excellent artistry with intensely observant poetry etched onto his pots. National Book Award nominee Laban Carrick Hill's elegantly simple text and award-winning artist Bryan Collier's resplendent, earth-toned artwork combine to create an inspiring and lyrical depiction.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: xBiog Dave Hill.L
Title: All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom
By: Angela Johnson
Published: 2014
In 1865, members of a family start their day as slaves, working in a Texas cotton field, and end it celebrating their freedom on what came to be known as Juneteenth.
Ages: 5-9
Call number: x394.263 Johns.A
Title: Frederick Douglass: The lion who wrote history
By: Walter Dean Myers
Published: 2017
Frederick Douglass was a self-educated slave from the South who grew up to become an abolitionist icon and leader, a revered writer, a renowned speaker, and a social reformer, demonstrating that ‘once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
Age: 4-8
Call number: xBiog Dougl.F Myers.W
Title: Shaking things up: 14 young women who changed the world
By: Susan Hood
Published: 2018
A new book that introduces the next generation of feminists, trailblazers, and rabble-rousers to fourteen progressive young women, each paired with a notable female artist. Molly Williams, the first recognized female soldier, Ruby Bridges, a civil rights activist, and Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut, are among the women included in this collection.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: x305.4 Hood.S
Title: My name is Truth: The life of Sojourner Truth
By: Ann Turner
Published: 2015
This is a remarkable true story of how former slave Isabella Baumfree, better known as preacher and orator Sojourner Truth, became an iconic figure of the abolitionist and women's rights movements. A detailed historical notice and a list of recommended additional reading materials are included in this beautifully illustrated and well-researched biography.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: xBiog Truth.S Turne.A
Title: Sulwe
By: Lupita Nyong'o
Published: 2019
When five-year-old Sulwe's classmates make fun of her dark skin, she tries lightening herself to no avail, but her encounter with a shooting star helps her understand there is beauty in every shade.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: JPicture Nyong.L
Title: Wagon Wheels
By: Barbara Brenner
Published: 1987
The Muldie boys and their father have come a long way to Kansas. But when Daddy moves on, the three boys must begin their own journey. They must learn to care for one another and face the dangers of the wilderness alone.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: JEasy Brenn.B
Title: When Harriet met Sojourner
By: Catherine Clinton
Published: 2007
This is a story about two women of identical backgrounds. Both slaves, fiercely independent and strong in their own ways. In this powerful text combined with stunning artwork, the life stories of two important figures in American history—Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth—are revealed.
Ages: 4-8
Call number: xBiog Tubma.H Clint.C
Title: Freedom's a-callin me
By: Ntozake Shange
Published: 2012
On the Underground Railroad, escaping from slave trackers and their dogs meant walking long distances, swimming across streams, and hiding in abandoned shanties, swamps, and ditches. The Underground Railroad was based on trust and secrecy. Who could be trusted? There were many free black and white men and women who volunteered and risked their lives.
Ages: 6-10
Call number: x811 Shang.N
Title: Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life
By: Ashley Bryan
Published: 2016
Ashley Bryan creates a moving and emotional picture book using original slave auction and plantation estate records that compares the monetary value of an individual with the precious value of life experiences and aspirations that a slave owner could never take away. This beautiful picture book is unlike anything you've ever seen. It's visually epic and never done before.
Ages: 6-10
Call number: J Bryan.A
Title: Let's Celebrate Emancipation Day & Juneteenth
By: Barbara deRubertis
Published: 2018
Abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth campaigned for the equality of all African Americans in the 1800s. Speeches, songs, journals, and even brave rescue missions were used to fight! We celebrate and continue their struggle for freedom and equality every year on Emancipation Day and Juneteenth.
Ages: 6-10
Call number: x326.8097 Derub.B
Title: Freedom’s Gift: A Juneteenth Story
By: Valerie Wilson Wesley
Published: 1997
June and her cousin Lillie commemorate Juneteenth, the day Texas slaves learned they had been freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, with the aid of their elderly Aunt Marshall.
Ages: 7-10
Call number: JPicture Wesle.V
Title: Juneteenth
By: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Drew Nelson
Published: 2006
This book portrays what life was like in Texas on June 19, 1865. The story provides simple facts and informs young readers about the holiday's origins and significance.
Ages: 6-12
Call number: x394.263 Nelso.V
Title: A Good Kind of Trouble
By: Lisa Moore Ramée
Published: 2019
Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. But in junior high, it's like all the rules have changed. Now she's suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she's not black enough. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum. Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that's trouble, for real.
Ages: 8-12
Call number: J Ramee.L
Title: Escape From Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom
By: Doreen Rappaport
Published: 1991
Running across the ice with her daughter, Eliza. Selena and Cornelia Jackson posing as young men. Henry Box Brown, en route to Canada in a wooden crate. Jane Johnson put her life on the line to testify in court against her former owner. Ellen Craft, posing as the owner of her husband's company. These people were aided by bravery, creativity, and an informal network in escaping slavery against overwhelming odds.”
Ages: 8-12
Call number: x326 Rappa.D
Title: Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad
By: Ann Petry
Published: 2018
This is a captivating biography of Harriet Tubman, who fled slavery and went on to become a conductor on the secret Underground Railroad, assisting others on their dangerous path to independence.
Ages: 8-12
Call number: xBiog Tubma.H Petry.A
Title: Traditional African American Arts and Activities
By: Sonya Kimble-Ellis
Published: 2002
Throughout our country's past, African Americans have built a rich heritage of arts and activities. Many of these rituals, from celebrating Juneteenth to making African masks to making one-of-a-kind quilts, can now be discovered and enjoyed right in your own house.
Ages: 8-12
Call number: x745.584 Kimbl.S
Title: Brown Girl Dreaming
By: Jacqueline Woodson
Published: 2014
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world.
Ages: 10 and up
Call number: xBiog Woods.J Woods.J