Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 10.21.15 Civil Rights

I am excited to join Alyson Beecher and other friends in this weekly challenge.  Finding great nonfiction picture books isn't a challenge anymore, there are so many wonderful books to be read now!  The challenge is sharing them with as many people as possible so they can find this wealth of literature to share with our young readers.  Thanks to Aly for starting this weekly link-up and thanks to all who join in!  See all of the posts at kidlitfrenzy.

I think we are so lucky to live in a time when picture books are so well done.  They seem to purposeful.  I can pick up a picture book - fiction or nonfiction - and find a reason to use it. Most of the time, it's because it's an amazing story to share and read.  But then I can use that same picture book for multiple reasons.  Maybe because it teaches a great literary technique or standard.  Maybe because it goes along so well with a content unit.  Maybe because it stands out because of the way the author constructed his/her words.  Or maybe because it really is that good and I want to read it again and again and again.

What also amazes me, is the way picture books can be used in classrooms that have students that have outgrown picture books.  Or, at least, we perceive those students to have outgrown picture books.  Because really, do you ever outgrow picture books?

I wish I had picture books that helped me understand my history lessons.  I know I have a deeper understanding of our nation's past because of picture books.  I've written about books that celebrate civil rights before.  But amazing picture books continue to be published about this tumultuous time period.  It's too bad we aren't learning from our history.  I think more people should be reading these books.

Here is a new nonfiction picture book biography and 2 new picture books about the civil rights topic:

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

Written by Carole Boston Weatherford

Illustrated by Ekua Holmes 

Published by Candlewick Press

Amazing nonfiction picture book biography about the civil rights fighter Fannie Lou Hamer. I don't think you can study civil rights in the 1960s without looking at what she did for the right for all voters in the south.  

Illustrations are a stand out in this book.

Disclaimer:  some minor language and racial slurs

Granddaddy's Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box

Written by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein

Illustrated by James E. Ransome

Published by Candlewick Press

Really enjoyed this picture book about a young boy visiting the courthouse to vote with his grandfather in the 1960s.  After seeing his grandfather being turned away for being illiterate, he is determined to one day vote, and be able to do it for his grandfather.

Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Written by Jonah Winter

Illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Published by Schwartz and Wade Books

Mirroring a walk uphill, we read about the journey of African Americans have been on to earn the right to vote.