Irene Smalls' first children's book, Irene and the Big, Fine Nickel, was inspired by her fond memories of Harlem. Her second book, Jonathan and His Mommy, is a love song for her son. Louise's Gift tells the story of how an unappreciated gift changes a young girl's view of herself. Irene Jennie and the Christmas Masquerade: The Johnkankus is the tale of a slave girl's Christmas. Because You're Lucky, is a simple story of how families can change and grow in ways that they are lucky to discover.

"As a former Miss Black New York State, Young Ambassador to Europe, and a student activist, I have had lots of jobs, ranging from model, actress, and radio reporter to running my own business, establishing a networking group for business professionls, and working in government," says Irene Smalls. "But the job I really like is writing children's books. I write very simple stories about my children, my childhood. I grew up in Harlem in the 1950's. Back then, Harlem was a small, southern black community that just happened to be in the North. The dialect, the foods, the mores and values were Southern. Harlem was a ghetto of softness and strength, a community of open doors and open hearts that loved its children."
 

Kevin and His Dad
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by Irene Smalls, Illustrated by Michael Hays

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers; 1st edition (April 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316798991
ISBN-13: 978-0316798990
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10 x 0.2 inches

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

A simple, graceful text and illustrations infused with warmth and love make this story of a day a boy and his dad spend together a special reading experience. Young boys and their fathers will relish this book that celebrates the ordinary things dads and kids can do together. Full color.

My Pop Pop and Me
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by Irene Smalls, Cathy Ann Johnson (Illustrator)

ISBN: 0316734225
Format: Hardcover, 28pp
Pub. Date: May 2006
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Age Range: 5 to 8

"I wanted to share information with you about a new picture book with recipe, My Pop Pop and Me

My Pop Pop and Me is the wonderful celebration of the love between a grandfather and a grandson. My Pop Pop and Me is the story of a young boy and his grandfather spending the day together baking a favorite Lemon cake.  Filled with activity, song and things to do the book beautifully and whimsically illustrates the simple pleasures of life.

My Pop Pop and Me is the companion book to My Nana and Me.  Both books are in hard cover and retail for $16.00. They  complete a whole multicultural family book set consisting of:  Jonathan and His Mommy, Kevin and His Dad, My Nana and Me, Because You're Lucky and now My Pop Pop and Me.  All books are published by Little Brown and Company.  The books are appropriate for Grades K - 2."
'Irene Smalls

My Nana and Me
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by Irene Smalls, Cathy Ann Johnson (Illustrator)

ISBN: 0316168211
Format: Hardcover, 24pp
Pub. Date: October 2005
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books
Age Range: 3 to 6

This delightful, loving picture book follows a young girl and her grandmother through a day of tea parties, dances, hide-and-seek, pat-a-cake, bathtime, storytime, and bedtime. Irene Smalls' rhythmic, upbeat text and Cathy Ann Johnson's lush, beautiful watercolors make My Nana and Me a perfect book for grandparents and grandchildren to share.

Irene and the Big, Fine Nickel
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Irene Smalls, Tyrone Geter (Illustrator)

ISBN: 0316698326
Format: Paperback, 32pp
Pub. Date: September 2003
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Age Range: 5 to 8

After buying a raisin bun with the nickel she finds on the street, seven-year-old Irene, living in 1950s Harlem, New York, must make a decision about friendship.

School Library Journal
K-Gr 2-- An idyllic reminiscence of Harlem in the '50s, showing the human spirit that made this place welcoming and warm. Seven-year-old Irene is an independent youngster. Readers follow her through a summer Saturday as she visits neighbors, plays in the park and on city sidewalks, fights and makes up with friends, listens to the music drifting through open doors, and plants a fire-escape garden. The day's high point comes with the discovery of a nickel in the clean and normally empty gutter. Irene and her friends buy a raisin bun and, with the sharing of the food, cement their relationship. This is a quiet picture book with wide appeal; each spread includes a full-page oil painting illustrating the action and a page of fairly dense text. Geter's broad brush strokes are without outlines, letting the colors do all the work. Beautiful brown children are captured in rich tones and in natural poses, perfectly complementing the happiness described in the text. Irene's godmother sums up the story's sentiments best when she says, ``God don't love ugly, bein' mean and fightin' is not the best thing to do.'' Amen to that.
'Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TX

Because You're Lucky
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Author:  Irene Smalls, Michael Hays (Illustrator)
Publisher:  Little, Brown & Company
Date Published:  August 1997
Format:  Trade Cloth

One of Ms. Smalls most popular titles:
"When Kevin comes to lives with his cousin Jonathan and his family, Jonathan isn't very happy. The newcomer arrives with no parents, no luggage, not even a toothbrush. This is a simple story of how families can change and grow in ways that they are lucky to discover."

Click here for more children titles by Irene Smalls

Related Links

Irene Smalls Web sites

http://www.irenesmalls.com

http://hometown.aol.com/ismalls107/index.htm

Irene Jennie & the Christmas Masquerade: The Johnkankus
http://melanet.com/johnkankus/