Author: Krause (Page 1 of 40)

In celebration of Black History Month, the Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC) is featuring a list of resources to help us learn about and honour the accomplishments of blacks throughout history and appreciate the diversity of our community.

Each week during the month of February, the CRC will be highlighting important works; this week we are featuring children picture books. Be sure to check out these titles!

Abdul’s Story by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Tiffany Rose
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

Abdul loves to tell stories. But writing them down is hard. His letters refuse to stay straight and face the right way. And despite all his attempts, his papers often wind up with more eraser smudges than actual words. Abdul decides his stories just aren’t meant to be written down…until a special visitor comes to class and shows Abdul that even the best writers—and superheroes—make mistakes.

Boonoonoonous Hair! by Olive Senior and illustrated by Laura James
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

This vibrant and exquisitely illustrated picture book, written by Commonwealth Prize winning Jamaican Canadian Olive Senior, a young girl learns to love her difficult to manage, voluminous and boonoonoonous hair.

Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman and illustrated by Loren Long
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by presidential inaugural poet and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes—big or small—in the world, in their communities, and in most importantly, in themselves.

History of Me by Adrea Theodore and illustrated by Erin Robinson
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

An uplifting message of hope for the future and pride in your history, inspired by a mother’s experience of being the only Black child in her classroom. Emphasizing the strength, creativity, and courage passed down through generations, this book offers a joyful new perspective on how we look at history and an uplifting message for the future.

I Am Enough by Grace Byers and pictures by Keturah A. Bobo
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

This gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another comes from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo. We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.

Islandborn by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Los Espinosa
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

So when Lola’s teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can’t remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola’s imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island.

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Luisa Uribe
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 3)

Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl’s mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. This book also includes back matter perfect for parents, educators, caregivers, and young readers who want to learn more about the names featured in the story. The “Glossary of Names” lists each name’s meaning, origin, and pronunciation.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC) is featuring a list of resources to help us learn about and honour the accomplishments of blacks throughout history and appreciate the diversity of our community.

Each week during the month of February, the CRC will be highlighting important works; this week we are featuring bibliographies. Be sure to check out these titles!

A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Paul Lee
(Interest Level: Grades 4-8)

In 1761, a young girl was sold to the Wheatley family in Boston, who named her Phillis after the slave schooner that had carried her. Kidnapped from her home in Africa and shipped to America, she’d had everything taken from her-her family, her name, and her language. But Phillis had a passion to learn. Amid the tumult of the Revolutionary War, Phillis Wheatley became a poet and ultimately had a book of verse published, establishing herself as the first African- American woman poet in the United States.

Meet Viola Desmond by Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrated by Mike Deas
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 12)

On the night of November 8th 1946, Nova Scotia businesswoman Viola Desmond stood up for her right to be in the “unofficial” whites-only section of a New Glasgow movie theatre and was arrested for it. Supported by the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NSCAACP) and the black-owned newspaper The Clarion, Viola took her quest for the right to freedom from discrimination to the courts.

Tubman: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railway by Rosemary Sadlier
(Interest Level: Grades 8-12)

Harriet Tubman was born a slave on a plantation near Bucktown, Maryland, about 1820. She died over ninety years later in 1913 in Auburn, New York. Harriet led an unbelievable life; she guided hundreds of Black freedom seekers out of their slavery to freedom through the underground railway. This book tells the story of Harriet Tubman and traces what life was like in St. Catharines during the eight years she lived in Canada.

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
(Interest Level: Grades 6-9)

On November 14, 1960, a tiny six-year-old black child, surrounded by federal marshals, walked through a mob of screaming segregationists and into her school.  This is the story of a pivotal event in history as Ruby Bridges saw it unfold around her. Ruby’s poignant words, quotations from writers and from other adults who observed her, and dramatic photographs recreate an amazing story of innocence, courage, and forgiveness. Ruby Bridges’ story is an inspiration to us all.

Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendalyn Hooks and illustrated by Colin Boolman
(Interest Level: Grades 1-8)

The life story of Vivien Thomas, an African American surgical technician who developed the first procedure used to perform open-heart surgery on children. Vivien Thomas’s greatest dream was to attend college to study medicine. But after the stock market crashed in 1929, Vivien lost all his savings. Then he heard about a job opening at the Vanderbilt University medical school under the supervision of Dr. Alfred Blalock. Vivien knew that the all-white school would never admit him as a student, but he hoped working there meant he was getting closer to his dream.

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
(Interest Level: Kindergarten-Grade 9)

Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden were so good at math that NASA hired them as mathematicians to help send the United States into space for the very first time.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC) is featuring a list of resources to help us learn about and honour the accomplishments of blacks throughout history and appreciate the diversity of our community.

Each week during the month of February, the CRC will be highlighting important works; this week we are featuring Young Adult fiction. Be sure to check out these titles!

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
(Interest Level: Grades 10-12)

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
(Interest Level: Grades 5-9)

A powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers, one who presents as white, the other as black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
(Interest Level: Grades 5-9)

The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father. Set in 1936, in Flint, Michigan, times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
(Interest Level: Grades 5-9)

The 2015 Newbery Award winner is about the Bell twins, stars on the basketball court and comrades in life. Both twins adhere to the Bell basketball rules: In this game of life, your family is the court, and the ball is your heart. When life intervenes in the form of a new girl, the balance shifts and growing apart proves painful.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
(Interest Level: Grades 9-12)

Newbery Medalist and Coretta Scott King Award winner about eleven-year-old Elijah who is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah’s friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
(Interest Level: Grades 8-12)

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
(Interest Level: Grade 5-9)

When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can’t help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?