Photo Credit:Zack E. Hamlett, III

Kelly Starling Lyons began her journey to become a children's book author in her hometown of Pittsburgh. She learned the art of storytelling from her mom who took her to productions at a children's playhouse, wrote plays and made up bedtime tales. Her grandparents, who showed their imagination through cooking and gardening, taught her to honor the magic of history and home. Surrounded by creativity, Lyons began to write.

She curled up near the radiator behind her bedroom door and allowed her pen to take her to other worlds. A canopy of trees transformed into a make-believe fortress, backyards hid treasure and tunnels to faraway lands, bridges that crossed the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers spanned distance and time.

Now a children's book author, Lyons' mission is to transform moments, memories and history into stories of discovery. Her titles include picture book, One Million Men and Me (Just Us Books), chapter book, NEATE: Eddie's Ordeal (Just Us Books), and two picture books published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Ellen's Broom, illustrated by Daniel Minter, debuts January 2012. Tea Cakes for Tosh, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, will be released that fall. Lyons lives with her husband and children in North Carolina where she facilitates a book club that celebrates literary treasures by black children's book creators of today and the past.

 

Tea Cakes for Tosh
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Kelly Starling Lyons (Author), E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 5 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (December 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399252134
ISBN-13: 978-0399252136
Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches

A young boy helps his beloved grandmother remember an important family story

Tosh loves listening to Grandma Honey tell family stories. His favorite is about the special tea cakes that smell like vanilla and sunshine. They were great-great-great-great-grandma Ida's specialty when she was a cook in the big house of a plantation. Unlike Tosh, the slave children weren't allowed to have any of the treats, though Grandma Ida always found a way to put the sugary sweetness into their hands anyway. It was a promise and taste of freedom to come.

Tosh knows this is an important story and he takes care to remember every word. And when grandma Honey begins to forget, he can return the gift of tea cakes and stories. A touching family tale, Tea Cakes for Tosh celebrates the important bond between grandchild and grandparent and the stories that make a family strong.

Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator E. B. Lewis lives in Folsom, New Jersey.

 

Ellen's Broom
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Reading level: Ages 5 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (January 5, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399250034
ISBN-13: 978-0399250033
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches

Winner 2013 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award

A young girl learns a new meaning for freedom during the time of Reconstruction

Ellen always knew the broom resting above the hearth was special. Before it was legal for her mother and father to officially be married, the broom was what made them a family anyway. But now all former slaves who had already been married in their hearts could register as lawful husband and wife.

When Ellen and her family make the long trip to the courthouse dressed in their best, she brings the broom her parents had jumped so many years before. Even though freedom has come, Ellen knows the old traditions are important too. After Mama and Papa's names are recorded in the register, Ellen nearly bursts with pride as her parents jump the broom once again.

Ellen is a wonderfully endearing character whose love for her family is brought to life in Daniel Minter's rich and eye-catching block print illustrations.

 

 

 

One Million Men and Me
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illustrated by Peter Ambush
Format: Hardcover, 32 pp
ISBN: 978-1-933491-07-3
Publisher: Just Us Books
Pub Date: October 2007
Recommended Age Range: 4-8

The Million Man March was a movement like no other. It brought Black men together for a day of inspiration and empowerment and it captured the attention of media across the U.S. and the world. This heartwarming picture book tells the story of the March in a new light. In One Million Men and Me, experience the strength, unity and legacy of that powerful day through the eyes of a little girl who was with her daddy the day Black men made history.

 

 

NEATE: Eddie's Ordeal
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Format: Paperback, 85 pp
ISBN: 978-0-940975-16-3
Publisher: Just Us Books
Pub Date: October 2004
Recommended Age Range: 8-12

Thirteen year old Eddie Delaney loves his dad. But sometimes he wishes that he'd lighten up. His father, a lawyer who grew up during the civil rights movement expects nothing but the best from his only son. And with Eddie's success as a starter on the basketball team, and his good grades, Mr. Delaney's been getting it. Then Eddie brings home a D in language arts and everything changes. His parents make him quit the team. And now Eddie's lost the one thing he knows he's good at, the very thing that had helped bring him and his dad together. Why is his dad so hard on him? Eddie's friends decide to find out. But when they dig into Mr. Delaney's past they uncover a secret that rocks the foundation of the already unsteady father-son relationship, and changes Eddie's life forever.

 

Related Links

Kelly's Official Website