The Best African American Children’s Picture Books for 2020

[Troy]

This list of books that could have been included on this list is quite long: https://aalbc.com/books/best-picture-books.php?year=2020

 

[daniellegfny]

Nice list. Maybe one day I will make it. I didn’t see any of the writers I have interacted with.

[Guest Great List!]

I would love to see my 86 years young, Aunt Ginny's recently published book, John Paige and the Hornets, on this list. Aunt Ginny has written ten stories in the "According to Sunshine" series on growing up in the 1930s and 1940s through the eyes of eight year old Sunshine. Her escapades with her five siblings will make you laugh, smile and reminisce. Geared towards Children Grades K - 3, Adults will love it as well. In the John Paige and the Hornets story, Sunshine and her youngest brother, John Paige, decide not to listen to the admonition of Mrs. Henderson and learn a valuable and lifelong lesson.  The moral of the story - "Listen to your Elders". The book can be found on am*zon. 

 

 

[link to Amazon removed - by moderator]

 

 

Aunt Ginny was featured in the Atlantic City press on the front page: At 86, Atlantic City's Virginia Darden Epps-Jackson publishes her first book

 

Thanks for letting me share.

 

Michele Burgess

www.drbwellness4ever.com

[Guest JMcManus]

Would love to see my picture book on the list one day.

 

Baby Princess and the Lost Doll

When Baby Princess walks by MooGo's magic shop with her mom and her favorite doll, she’s excited to find a doll her size. A Magical Doll. But when the Magical Doll tricks her and takes her doll, it's a chase to get her favorite doll back. Will she catch the Magical Doll? Will she get her favorite doll back, or will it be lost? Join Baby Princess in this colorfully illustrated adventure.

 

[Troy]

Hey Jacquitta and @daniellegfny Interestingly not a single title listed above was recognized the American Library Association  Youth Media Awards yesterday -- not one!

 

 

 

[daniellegfny]

@Troy it’s their award. I am not a big award seeker even though it can help sales. Don’t think I read any of them. I have read over close to a hundred children’s books between last year and this year.

[Troy]

Well it kind of is our award too...

 

The youth media awards includes The Coretta Scott King awards, which is given to the best black writers illustrators of children's books for the year https://aalbc.com/books/csk-award-winning-books.php

 

There are black people on these awards committees.

 

My observations of the youth media awards this year is not a harsh critique just an observation.

 

another observation is that none of the book award winners were black men. Again this is an observation and I'm not going to beat them up on it too much because in 2019 black men won a disproportionate number of the awards.

 

But I agree with you in the sense that writers should not write to seek awards.

 

Awards can help with Book sales and for those writers who are not purely concerned with profit those awards can help them build a platform to advance their art and our collective freedom.