**Newbery Honoree Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez—the team behind Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library—reunite to take full measure of an iconic performer and political activist.Paul Robeson rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance, known for his extraordinary vocal, dramatic, and oratory skills. But he was a true Renaissance man: an accomplished athlete, a bright intellect, and a passionate supporter for humanitari...

A wise man named Brulla Roberts once said. "Drummer man's magic doesn't come from the drum. The magic comes from the drummer man. "Undoubtedly true, but, as six-year-old David knows only too well, without that drum there is no drummer man! Ever since he can remember. David's "felt the itch in his fingers and the rhythm in his wrists." He's tried keeping time with anything and everything , including spoons. knives. and shoes. To Mom's dismay, he's even taken apart the legs of a kitchen chai...

Coretta Scott King and John Steptoe New Talent Award winner Eric Velasquez shines in the perfect picture book to read with grandparents.Every summer, Eric goes to live with his grandmother in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) while his parents work. Through the long hot days, Grandma fills her apartment with the blaring horns and conga drums of Bomba y Plena, salsa, and merengue-the music she grew up with in Puerto Rico-sharing her memories and passions with Eric....

Storyline Online Selection - SAG-AFTRA Foundation / Storyline OnlineThe story of Mason Steele, an African American boy in 1960s Greenville, North Carolina, who relies on his inner strength and his typing skills to break racial barriers after he begins attending a "whites-only" high school.Young Mason Steele takes pride in turning his father's excited ramblings about the latest civil rights incidents into handwritten business letters. One day Pa comes home w...

New York City’s desegregated Palladium Ballroom springs to life with a diverse 1940s cast in this jazzy picture-book tribute to the history of mambo and Latin jazz.Millie danced to jazz in her Italian neighborhood. Pedro danced to Latin songs in his Puerto Rican neighborhood. It was the 1940s in New York City, and they were forbidden to dance together . . . until first a band and then a ballroom broke the rules. Machito and His Afro-Cubans hit the ...

Perfect for common core, this story based on the true events of a young girl's transition from the poverty of Ethiopia to life in America will be an inspiration for young readersAlemitu lives with her mother in a poor village in Ethiopia, where she must walk miles for water and hunger roars in her belly. Even though life is difficult, she dreams of someday knowing more about the world. When her mother has no choice but to leave her at an orphanage to give her a chance at a better l...

A young narrator tells readers about her friend Maya, who absolutely loves to dance. In this rhyming picture book, Maya attends a lively dance class. She can’t get enough of dance: the costumes, the grand entrances, the pirouettes, the music, the final bow, and the magic of recitals. She even loves the hard work of practice. But why doesn’t her friend dance, too?The pages themselves seem to dance, thanks to the charming verse of Cheryl Willis Hudson and the vibrant colors ...

Strong Voices: Fifteen American Speeches Worth Knowingis a collection of significant speeches, made both by those who held the reins of power and those who didn’t, at significant times in American history. Read the original words—sometimes abridged and sometimes in their entirety—that have shaped our cultural fabric. A Chicago Public Library Best Book!"A wide-ranging collection of speeches and a worthwhile resource...

Having lost their parents in an earthquake, Anna and her siblings live with their prim uncle and feeble aunt. Anna lives only to dance – but her uncle forbids her to have anything to do with ballet. How will she survive?For Anna, everything takes second place to her burning desire to dance. Even the earthquake that destroyed her Turkish home has not made her think differently, only now she's stuck in a prim suburban household with an uncle who "doesn't approve" of dancing.W...

Curtains up on the world of the Dance Divas, a team of 8-12 year-old girls who live to dance! Enter stage left: Scarlett, Rochelle, Liberty, Bria, and Gracie. They all dance together at the same studio, run by their choreographer (and former ballerina) Antoinette “Toni” Moore. Toni is known for creating winning routines . . . and she doesn't like anything other than first place! These girls travel all around competing for titles-but every number drums up drama. Can Scarlett hold on to her ...

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey.Sophie loves to dance. She dreams of being a ballerina, and when she receives ballet lessons for her birthday, she hopes her wish to be a real dancer one day might really come true.

A mysterious music box from the Haunted Museum follows a young girl home in this spooky read by the author of The Titanic Locket.Don't touch anything in the Haunted Museum!Emma would rather be at her ballet class than at the Haunted Museum, but she can't miss her best friend's birthday party. In a spooky exhibit of music boxes, she's drawn to a particular one, in which a pair of dancers spin slowly to a haunting melody.But that very night, the...