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Author Kelly Starling Lyons gives a window into her writing journey and celebrates new and classic multicultural children's books. Her books include picture book, One Million Men and Me (Just Us Books, forthcoming October 2007) and chapter book, NEATE: Eddie's Ordeal (Just Us Books). Kelly lives with her husband and daughter in North Carolina where she facilitates a book club for African-American girls.
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Hey Everyone,
This file is too large for my new blog site. So I'm posting my Ellen's Broom launch party appreciation video here for you to check out. Thank you to everyone who shared links, sent notes of encouragement, tweeted, liked, posted comments, attended the launch and purchased copies. I feel so blessed.
Please continue to spread the word about Ellen's Broom and share it with folks you know. Thank you! Your support means a lot.
My blog has a new home - http://www.kuumba.wordpress.com/. Please visit me there. October 5, I'm kicking off my two-week virtual tour in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Million Man March. There will be interviews, guest posts, notes from kids, giveaways and more. Thank you for your support.
By Kevin Price as told to his sister Kelly Starling Lyons
Wearing a trucker hat and overalls, Grand-dad transformed into a master fisherman. His mahogany face glowed as he dipped his worn bucket into the green water and slowly pulled it up. Like a kid in awe of a magician, I gazed wide-eyed at the hundreds of minnows that swam inside.
Back then, I was just a 9-year-old boy happy to be spending time with grandpa. But years later, memories like that one would mean much more. They were lessons in living and manhood. They were touchstones that anchored me in values and faith. And one day, those moments with Grand-dad would save me from myself.
Every Father's Day, I think of Grand-dad’s hand in my life. Some boys look to their biological fathers for direction. I had my mom's dad. Where my father’s presence was scarce, my Grand-dad was my rock. He imparted wisdom like he sowed seeds in his garden. He planted the knowledge and waited for it to sprout.
Any time we spent together was an opportunity to teach. While we skinned channel cat, he schooled me in the importance of learning new things. “You can play anytime,” he would say in the accent that revealed traces of his West Virginia childhood, “crack open a book and learn something.” As I watched him work on car engines in the yard, he would tell me how important it was to learn a trade: “That’s something no one can take away.” When I would trail him around our backyard garden and help him tend to the tomatoes and green beans, he would tell me about enjoying God’s blessings.
Then Grand-dad got sick. His pecan-colored skin turned pale. His hair, always dyed jet black, showed its true silver. I watched his body weaken and his fight for living slip away. Ten days before my 14th birthday, my grand-dad died of prostate cancer. Losing him was like losing my compass. Everywhere I turned, I was lost. Not only did I no longer have a father-figure in my life, I felt abandoned and alone. Suddenly, I was left to be a man on my own. Or at least that's what I thought.
I turned my back on the lessons Grand-dad taught me and started making bad choices. I stopped going to church. My birthdays, because they fell right after yearly anniversaries of Grand-dad's death, were painful reminders he was gone. So I stopped celebrating them.
One day, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw someone I didn't know. My eyes looked cold and hard. My heart was ice. I knew I was at a turning point. I could keep following the path I was on and end up defeated or dead. Or I could choose the road to hope. Right then, my grandma said something that shook me to the bone: Your Grand-dad would be heartsick to see you like this. Softly at first and then louder, I could hear his voice in my ears: Learn a trade. Crack open a book. Be a man who makes his family proud. The lessons Grand-dad taught me as a child returned to lead me when I needed them most.
Turning things around was a process. I stopped hanging out. I started learning an automotive trade. Slowly, purposefully, I started to
Too often, we just hear stories about dads who aren't there. But there are so many fathers who are. They are teachers, comforters, heroes, friends. They are protectors, motivators, providers. And they're all around us -- even in the world of children's books.
Forget about fairytale perfection. These storybook dads are the real deal - strong black men with individual experiences and concerns but with a shared devotion to their children.
Here are some picture books that celebrate African-American fathers and father figures:
FATHERS
The Bat Boy and His Violin (Simon & Schuster), a poignant story of a boy whose father -- coach of a Negro League team - makes him bat boy and comes to appreciate his special musical gift, written by Gavin Curtis, illustrated by E.B. Lewis.
A Day with Daddy (Teaching Resources), a lyrical look at a boy's weekly visit with his dad, written by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Nicole Tagdell.
Sometimes months pass before I discover that One Million Men and Me has made a recommended reading list. So I celebrate every time I see it included. I'm grateful to the librarians and teachers who share my book in this special way.
Here are some of the places where it has appeared:
CCBC Choices 2008
http://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/34118
New York Public Library's The Struggle for Civil Rights: Books for Children, K-6
http://acorngraphicsnyc.com/pdf/Booklet.pdf
Baltimore County Public Library's African American Kids' Books
http://www.bcpl.info/centers/library/aabooklist.html
Detroit Public Library's 2009 African American Booklist
http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/downloads/2009_AABL.pdf
Cincinnati Public Schools: 2009-2010 Suggested Books for Free-Time Reading
http://www.cps-k12.org/Parents/RdgList.pdf
Kent District Library - Recommended Reading Lists for Kids: Celebrate Black History Month!
http://www.kdl.org/categories/752
I hope you and your children enjoyed the books we read for April. Here are the selections for the June book club. Please share what you think in the comments and post a review on Amazon.com. Thanks for your support:
I hope you and your children enjoyed the books we read for February. Here are the selections for the April book club. Please let me know what you think.
Clothes I Love to Wear by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illustrated by Laura Freeman
This fall marks the 15th anniversary of the Million Man March. I'll never forget the beauty of a sea of black men gathered in purpose and peace. Witnessing that historic event and seeing a little girl there with her daddy inspired me to write my picture book, One Million Men and Me (Just Us Books). The book, illustrated by Peter Ambush, celebrates the March and fathers and father-figures.
But in celebration of the upcoming anniversary -- October 16 -- I'd like to share One Million Men and Me in a new way. Beginning Oct. 1 and ending on the 16th, I will do Skype visits into classrooms, participate in blog Q&As, feature letters I've received from kids, offer new printable activities, giveaways and more.
Often when I ask young people if they've heard of the Million Man March, they shake their heads no. But I hope after hearing One Million Men and Me, a part of that important day comes to life. Like the 1963 March on Washington, we need to remember the Million Man March, a brilliant event where black men made history.
I love going to the library. Taking my kids for storytime is an excuse for me to find new treasures and to re-read old favorites. Last week, I discovered something amazing.
I was browsing the shelves and saw the children's book, My Mama Needs Me (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1983) by Mildred Pitts Walter, illustrated by Pat Cummings. I flipped through the pages and was drawn in by the story of a big brother wanting to help his mama care for his brand-new baby sister. But I didn't really read it until I came home.
As I explored the story with my daughter, I knew this book was special. There's a wonderful picture of Daddy watching in pride as Mama snuggles their little girl and big bro Jason puts a finger to his lips and tells friends to shhh. Then, Daddy goes back to work and it's just Jason, Mama and baby at home. Jason wants to help and turns down going outside to play and a taste of cookies from a neighbor just in case he's needed. Just when he feels he'll never get a chance to pitch in, he hears his sister crying and rushes inside. But Mommy is already taking care of the feeding too. That's when I saw a picture that really touched me.
Cummings has an illustration of a black mom breast-feeding her baby girl. This is the first time I've seen a picture book illustration of a mom of any race breast-feeding. In the picture, Jason looks on in wonder and delight. When she falls asleep at Mommy's breast, Jason gently rubs her ear and she starts nursing again.
I won't share much more because I hope you'll check out this wonderful book. But I'll just say Jason learns that he's needed and discovers what he needs too.
A quick Internet search revealed that Cummings won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration for My Mama Needs Me. I understand why. Simply beautiful.
When most people learn about the founding fathers of America, they rarely hear about the black patriots who paved the way for this country's greatness. Nancy I. Sanders introduces young people to heroes and sheroes who are too often overlooked. In her new book, America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes and Early Leaders (Chicago Review Press, 2010), she celebrates trailblazers like Prince Hall, Phillis Wheatley, James Armistead Lafayette and James Forten and includes wonderful activities to help the period come to life.
A: I first started researching African-American history when a publisher requested a proposal on this topic. As I read through the books I got from the library, I was surprised that I had never heard of these events or individuals before. They weren’t in textbooks I’d had in school when I was a child. And I didn’t see this information in the textbooks my sons had in school. I became determined to share what I’d found with others.
Q: What does it mean to you to celebrate black history?
A: I love celebrating black history all year long. For instance, my family and I were traveling back to PA to visit my family a couple of years ago. We specifically arranged our schedule so that we were in Philadelphia on Juneteenth. We joined a small crowd waiting for the Richard Allen Museum to open early that morning. A reporter was there and interviewed all of us asking us why we chose to visit the museum as part of Juneteenth. After that, we went to the African American Museum of Philadelphia where a Juneteenth celebration was being held. We heard an actor portray Frederick Douglass and give one his speeches. It was so powerful and inspiring to us all! I try to learn more and also share what I’ve learned about African American history in as many ways as possible all through the year. In fact, I have a website where I’m inviting teachers and classrooms all across America to help celebrate African American history all year long. It’s at http://www.50niftystatestour.wordpress.com/
Q: What do you hope young people take away from your books?
A: I want today’s youth to be proud about these heroes from reading about America’s Black Founding Fathers and Mothers in my book. I want them to be inspired to follow the example of these amazing men and women who helped found our nation.
Q: Your latest, America’s Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes and Early Leaders explores the lives of African-Amer
Happy Monday, Everyone,
Please join us at The Brown Bookshelf as we celebrate some of the best under-the-radar and vanguard black children's books authors and illustrators. Our 28 Days Later campaign kicks off today with a spotlight on Marguerite Abouet. Each day during Black History Month, we'll profile one of our honorees. We hope you'll visit often and join us in saluting their work.
http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2010/01/31/marguerite-abouet/
Team member Don Tate created a 28 Days Later poster that's available for free download:
http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2010/01/28/28-days-later-2010-poster/
We hope it becomes a valued part of classrooms and libraries.
The Brown Bookshelf is a team of authors and illustrators dedicated to pushing awareness of the many African American voices writing for young readers. The team includes Paula Chase-Hyman, Varian Johnson, Don Tate, Kelly Starling Lyons, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Tameka Fryer Brown.
Received this review of One Million Men and Me yesterday. So sweet. Made my day:
"I liked the story about the little girl who looks just like me. i met the author and she was really nice. she signed my book and was a lot of fun. i like learning about the girl who went on an important trip with a her dad because my dad works all the time, ...far away. i hope i can go on a trip with my dad one day." -- Tia, 6.
Lower Elementary:
Who Will I Be Lord? by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Sean Qualls
First Pooch: The Obamas Pick a Pet by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Amy Bates
Upper Elementary:
Coretta by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Praise for Coretta:
"Poet and painter have joined forces to offer an indelible, emotional expression of the strength, beauty, and joy of one woman's character."
-- starred review, Booklist
Michelle by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by AG Ford
For the past few years, I’ve facilitated book clubs for African-American girls. We’ve read dozens of picture books that celebrate black children and families. Sometimes, I get emails from parents, community group leaders and teachers asking me to recommend good books about children of color. So this year, I decided to take my virtual book club -- something I've featured on my website for a while -- to another level.
Every other month, I'll post four picture book titles -- two appropriate for preschool/young elementary readers and two for upper elementary readers. I may include craft ideas and other ways to bring the books to life in your home, classroom and library. The books will be written and/or illustrated by African-American authors and illustrators.
Please join us in reading these books and saluting the wonderful people who created them. If you enjoy a particular selection, please post a review on Amazon.com. Your feedback may help keep a good book in print. And please share your child's thoughts about the books here on my blog or on my FaceBook page. Let me know if you like the virtual book club idea too. That way, I'll know if this is something that's useful to you and your family.
A writing friend, Jeannine Montgomery, is starting a book club dedicated to boys. Go Jeannine! So I'll post a link to what she's doing too.
Also, to find more great reads about African-American children and teens, please check out The Brown Bookshelf, a site created by a team of black authors and illustrators dedicated to raising awareness of African-American children’s literature. I'm honored to be part of that group.
Finally, I created a few Listmania lists on Amazon.com that offer more wonderful books to consider sharing with young people you love:
Kelly’s Favorite Picture Books
Board & Early Picture Books Featuring African-American Children
Picture Books Featuring African-American Boys
Here’s to celebrating children’s literature every day.
Happy Reading!
Kelly
Happy New Year, Everybody!
Lots of great things happening. One of my forthcoming picture books is closer to publication. The illustrator is working on sketches. Can't wait to see them.
Took a mediabistro YA/MG class taught by Erica Sussman of HarperCollins. Really demanding, but I highly recommend it! My middle grade novel-in-progress is so much further along.
Thinking of ways to share One Million Men and Me with more children. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Million Man March. Sadly, too many kids have never heard of the March. Hoping to change that.
Claiming joy and peace in 2010 and wishing it for all of you.
I never knew there was such a rich literary community on YouTube. I created a channel with some of my favorite book trailers and author interviews. I even saw some by my writing friends. Too cool.
Here's my channel:
Kelly's YouTube Channel
Happy Viewing!
Everyone,
Thank you so much for the great feedback on my trailer for One Million Men and Me. I'm happy to present the final version. Please let me know what you think.
Here's the trailer. Click the arrow to view:
I also created some free printables for the book:
Please share with a child you know. Thank you so much for your support.
Hey Everyone,
I've been so inspired by the wonderful children's book trailers on the Web that I decided to try my own. I used Microsoft MovieMaker and royalty-free music I found online. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love to get some feedback before making it live.
Here's the link. Click the arrow to view:
12 Brown Boys (Just Us Books, 2008), the children’s book debut of best-selling urban lit novelist Omar Tyree, does that in a meaningful way. In this short story collection for middle-graders, Tyree explores the lives of a memorable cast of tween brown boys. His characters, with names like Red-Head Mike, Chestnut and Oneal, come from different family situations and backgrounds. They face different trials. They show diversity in their interests and beliefs. But they’re united in being young men with frailties and flaws, strengths and talents. Tyree succeeds in creating distinct personalities with complex lives.
He opens the book with the throw-back story of a boy named Michael who loves Heavy D and Rakim and looks up to an older teen named Cool Dave. Then, Michael discovers what Dave does for a living and things get more complicated. Tyree shows us a boy who struggles with reading in public until his dad teaches him a trick he used as a child. There’s a young artist and musician who inspires his friend. There’s an oldest son who stands up when he’s needed most. In Tyree’s book, we travel from Jamaica to Detroit, from Washington, D.C. to Charlotte and a camp in the Poconos to meet boys who stick up for their beliefs, have fun their own way, weather challenging moments and unfamiliar experiences to become their best selves.
12 Brown Boys is a needed book that gives African-American boys an important incentive to read – reflections of themselves.
Here is a Book Links article that offers more titles that celebrate African-American boys:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/hqops/publishing/booklinks/resources/affirmingafricanamericanboys.pdf
I first met author Katia Novet Saint-Lot in an online workshop taught by Uma Krishnaswami. I admired Katia's works-in-progress for their grace and multicultural themes. Now, I'm delighted to have the chance to share in the celebration of her new picture book, Amadi's Snowman (Tilbury House, 2008).
To read more of Katia's fascinating global virtual tour, please visit: http://katianovetsaintlot.blogspot.com/
I turned to books like If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier and illustrated by Lynne Avril and Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. My daughter could see herself in the picture of brown-skinned Grace who decides she wants to run for president one day after hearing there has never been a woman U.S. president. She could see her baby brother in the face of the boy on the cover of If I Ran For President. In those images, she saw an America of possibility, a place where any child can aspire to hold the highest office in the land.
Yesterday, we had an election night party. We let our daughter vote on her favorite colors, snacks, TV shows and activities. We sang My Country Tis of Thee and America the Beautiful. We talked about the American flag and what freedom and justice mean.
Before Sen. Obama became President-Elect Obama, my 4-year-old asked me to write down her request of him should he win.
Dear Mr. Obama:
Please give the children food and drink, play time, a place to be safe and love. Thank you.
She fell asleep before the results were announced — and Barack Obama strode into history as the first African-American president-elect. But to see her laying on the couch clutching her Obama doll, with an American flag pinwheel and her red, white and blue bear by her side touched me more than words can say.
I’m so full today that I struggle to explain the enormity of this moment. The road has been so long and pocked with sorrow and sacrifice that I don’t know where to start. But there’s been hope and promise on this journey too, that sustained us like the enduring faith and soaring Negro spirituals that let our ancestors know that liberty was on the way. President-Elect Barack Obama is the face of hope, change, freedom and much more.
I’m blessed that I don’t have to struggle to find the words to explain Barack Obama’s amazing journey. Children’s book authors are there for me again. Here are two books that explore the incredible life of President-Elect Barack Obama:
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope is a beautiful picture book collaboration of award-winning author Nikki Grimes and award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier.
Here are some reviews:
"One day Hope stopped by for a visit,” begins this biography, narrowly framed as an exchange between an African-American mother and her son. They sit together on a “frayed” sofa in a “tenement” as she tells him who “Braco-what?” is and why he is so special; at the end she blinks back tears when he tells her that he, too, wants to be president when he grows up. (Hope later talks to Barack Obama, as does God.) Grimes (Bronx Masquerade) approaches her themes with a heavy hand, starting with her treatment of race as she describes “his mama, white as whipped cream,/ his daddy, black as ink” (she gets at awe similarly: “Barry’s mom married/ a man named Lolo/ and-Oh! The wonderland/ he took Barry to: Indonesia”). Collier uses watercolor and collage, a choice he explains as a metaphor for the way Obama has “piece[d] life’s issues together to create a courageous vision for the world.” There is much to find in each composition (artfully placed photo images, batik patterns, etc.), but the illustrations often feel static and a few (like the one in which a single tear streams momentously down Obama’s cheek), stagy. Ages 5-10."
– Publisher’s Weekly
“When David wonders why all those people on TV are shouting one man’s name, his mother tells him Barack Obama’s story. Accompanied by Collier’s trademark, powerful collages, Grimes’s storytelling voice, heavily tinged with the gospel rhythms of the black church, relates the particulars of Obama’s youth, from his childhood in Hawaii and yearning for his estranged father, to his days as a community activist in Illinois, in the Senate and, most briefly, his presidential campaign. David’s questions and his mother’s responses punctuate each double-page spread, never letting readers forget the story’s frame. It’s a contrivance that works, perhaps because it’s so obviously informed by the author’s own passion, described in a concluding note. Based primarily on Obama’s Dreams from My Father (2004) as well as other sources, this work stands on shaky nonfiction ground, as Grimes admits to taking artistic license; most troubling are unsourced quotations within the text. Still, of the three candidates’ picture-book biographies out this season, this stands as the one most likely to communicate to children on a visceral level. (author’s, illustrator’s notes, resources, timeline, family tree) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)”
– Kirkus
For older readers, Garen Thomas has written a wonderful biography of Barack Obama called Yes We Can. Check out the reviews below:
– Voya
“Gr. 5-9. Thomas describes Obama as a “new leader who seems to be granting Americans a renewed license to dream,” and maintains an admiring tone throughout. She opens with a look at his Kenyan father and American mother and covers Obama’s childhood, education, and early influences. The author also relates his efforts as an adult to learn about his father and his African heritage and to find his place in America. The last chapters chronicle Obama’s rapid political ascent and his early victories in the Democratic primary, briefly mentioning some campaign controversies, such as his relationship with outspoken minister Jeremiah Wright. Each section of the book opens with a quote from Obama, and the text is supplemented with black-and-white photos of the senator and his family and friends. Although Thomas does not document her sources, an author’s note explains that she draws both from Obama’s own memoirs and other published and interview sources. While there is little here that has not been widely reported in the media or adult titles, Thomas’s clear prose will help students learn more about the first African American to gain a major party nomination for the presidency.”
– School Library Journal
Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. But I've been putting my time to good use. I wrote a couple of new picture books this summer and polished one I wrote this spring. I read a lot -- Angela Johnson, Jane Yolen, Bebe Moore Campbell. I outlined my writing goals.
Now, I'm back, inspired and ready to soar.
Here's some good news:
My story, Finding My Voice, was selected to appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School. The book debuts Nov. 4.
One Million Men and Me is a semi-finalist in the multicultural picture book category of the Moonbeam Awards. Here's a link to all of the semifinalists:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?pa ge=1250
My website has been redesigned by TyWebbin (www.tywebbin.com). You can check it out at: www.kellystarlinglyons.com.
Thank you for your support.
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I would love for you to visit my blog for an interview, or whatever I might help.
Don, Devas T.
Thanks, Don! I really appreciate the support. An interview would be great. Right now, my calendar is open so you can let me know what day between Oct. 1-16 works for you.