By Marilyn Nelson So first it did a little dance, then it did a little prance, then, as nicely as you please, it waddled off with stiff red knees. Once there was a jaunty ladder, abandoned by a mysterious carpenter, that sprung to life and decided to take a trip through the countryside. As time…
By Marilyn Nelson The true narrative of a slave from Africa, crafted in verse by Marilyn Nelson. Born an African prince, Broteer Furro was captured by slave traders at age six. As he stepped onto a cargo ship, the vessel’s steward purchased the boy and gave him a new name: Venture. He landed in Rhode…
By Marilyn Nelson In The Fields of Praise, Marilyn Nelson claims as subjects the life of the spirit, the vicissitudes of love, and the African American experience since slavery and arranges them as pebbles marking our common journey toward a “monstrous love that wants to make the world right.” Nelson is a poet of stunning power,…
By Marilyn Nelson Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Soaring images, rhythmic language, and wry humor come together in these three narrative poems that explore travel from an African American historical and social perspective. A cab ride turns into an amazing encounter with the driver, an amateur physicist whose ideas about space and…
By Marilyn Nelson “Nelson writes with extraordinary sensitivity. . . . Ering’s brilliantly drafted artwork sweeps. . . . Triumphant.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Abba Jacob is a monk who lives on a faraway island with his loyal terrier, Snook. Every day, from the wee hours of dawn till the sun sets over the sea,…
By Marilyn Nelson Pemba knows she’s not crazy. But who is that looking out at her through her mirror’s eye? And why is the apparition calling her “friend”? Her real friends are back home in Brooklyn, not in the old colonial house in Colchester, Connecticut, where none of this would have happened if Daddy were…
By Marilyn Nelson ALSC Notable Children’s Book Here is the story of Miss Prudence Crandall and her black students, who endured the cruelty of prejudice and hateful actions for the sake of their education. Miss Crandall faced legal proceedings for opening her school of African American women. But her young students knew that Miss Crandall…
By Marilyn Nelson Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award For young readers comes a poetic commemoration of the life of an 18th-century slave, from a past poet laureate and three-time National Book Award finalist For over 200 years, the Mattatuck Museum in Connecticut has housed a mysterious skeleton. In 1996, community members decided…
By Marilyn Nelson Newbery Honor Book National Book Award finalist Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Flora Stieglitz Straus AwardBeautiful verse explores agricultural scientist George Washington Carver’s life and many achievements, from his work as a botanist and inventor to his unsung gifts as a painter, musician, and teacher.George Washington Carver…
By Marilyn Nelson A talented team of children’s book creators craft a beautiful, stirring tribute to the grace and power of prima ballerinas everywhere. Every little girl has the dream to become a prima ballerina! On today’s ever-changing cultural stage, ballerinas come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities. To celebrate the beauty of black…
