In honor of Black History Month, PW showcases a selection of picture book offerings that highlight the achievements and impact of influential Black figures throughout history.


Blues Boy: The B.B. King Story

Alice Faye Duncan, illus. by Carl Joe Williams. Greenwillow, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-333402-1. Ages 4–8

Readers can learn the backstory of this American music legend, from his childhood during the Jim Crow era to his successful career as a jazz musician.


Carlotta’s Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History

Walls Lanier, Carlotta and Frazier Page, Lisa Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Little, Brown, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-316-57254-5. Ages 6–8.

This picture book biography frames the experience of the Little Rock Nine from the perspective of Carlotta Walls LaNier, a girl who navigates discrimination as one of the first students integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957, in the face of protests.


Clothes to Make You Smile: Patrick Kelly Designs His Dreams

Eric Darnell Pritchard, illus. by Shannon Wright. Abrams, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4197-6886-6. Ages 4–8

Casting the concept of “laughter through the hard parts” as a key to creative practice in this picture book debut, Pritchard pens a resilience-focused chronicle of fashion designer Patrick Kell.


The Dream Builder’s Blueprint: Dr. King’s Message to Young People

Alice Faye Duncan, illus. by E.B. Lewis. Calkins Creek, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-66268-031-1. Ages 7–10.

To create this moving erasure poem about nonviolent protest and more, Duncan worked with the text of an October 1967 talk that Martin Luther King Jr. gave at South Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High—text shaped “specifically for school-age children.” The book received a starred review from PW.


The Gift of Freedom: How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers

Glennette Tilley Turner, illus. by Laura Freeman. Abrams, $19.99 Jan. 13 (40p) ISBN 978-1-419-76929-0. Ages 4–8.

Turner and Freeman illuminate a lesser-documented episode in the life of Tubman via a narrative that draws on interviews with the figure’s last surviving relative to personally know Tubman.


I Am the River: Sarah E. Ray and the Bob-Lo Boat

Patricia Lee Gauch and Leah Henderson, illus. by Kristle Marshall. Levine Querido, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-646-14580-5. Ages 4–8.

Via shifting reportorial first-person prose, Gauch and Henderson deliver a tribute to Ray, a woman whose court case against a discriminatory company changed the tides of history.


Remember Her Name! Debbie Allen’s Rise to Fame

Tami Charles, illus. by Meredith Lucius. Charlesbridge, $17.99 Feb. 10 (32p) ISBN 978-1-62354-565-9.

This book follows the early days of dancer and choreographer Allen, who grew up during the Jim Crow era and was denied access to dance school, and went on to become one of the most recognizable names in the world of dance.


Seven Million Steps: The True Story of Dick Gregory’s Run for the Hungry

Derrick Barnes and Christian Gregory, illus. by Frank Morrison. Amistad, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-335752-5. Ages 4–8.

Barnes and Gregory highlight an incredible feat in the life of activist and comedian Gregory: running from Los Angeles to New York City while abstaining from nearly all nourishment to raise awareness about global food insecurity. The book received a starred review from PW.


Small-Girl Zora and the Shower of Stories

Giselle Anatol, illus. by Raissa Figueroa. Viking, Jan. 13, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-593-40489-8. Ages 4–8.

This picture book inspired by author Zora Neale Hurston follows a young Zora who hopes her stories can help revitalize her community and her mother’s garden.


Teaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting Justice

Yvonne Clark-Rhines and Monica Clark-Robinson, illus. by Abigail Albano-Payton. Quill Tree, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-325160-1. Ages 4–8.

This illuminating picture book biography about a figure who “could always find a way” frames the life of civil rights activist and teacher Clark as one driven by the subject’s passion for education and belief in equality. The book received a starred review from PW.


Troubled Waters: A River’s Journey Toward Justice

Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Bryan Collier. Bloomsbury, $20.99 Jan. 20 (40p) ISBN 978-1-68119-818-7. Ages 4–8.

This distinctive picture book limns an arresting history of the Alabama River from the water body’s perspective. The book received a starred review from PW.


Twice Enslaved: Liberty and Justice for Henrietta Wood

Selene Castrovilla, illus. by Erin K. Robinson. Calkins Creek, $19.99 (80p) ISBN 978-1-6626-8074-8

In this concise biography rendered via narrative poetry, Castrovilla centers Wood (1818–1912), a Black woman who—following her emancipation, abduction, and re-enslavement—obtained the largest restitution payment ever given to a formerly enslaved person in the United States.