About this item
Brimming with passion, beauty, flow, and style, here is an ABC book like no other - a celebration of Black history and culture in lively verse, matched with illustrations that are each like a folk painting. Written by the poet Rio Cortez and illustrated by Lauren Semmer, the book teaches the ABCs in a far more interesting and meaningful way than the usual "A is for apple, B is for ball." Letters represent history - G is for the Great Migration. Culture - K for Kwanzaa. People and places - H is for Harlem and Zora Neale Hurston. And big ideas - like B for beautiful, bold, brave, brotherhood. R is for rise, to reach for the top. Relentlessly striving, refusing to stop Like ballplayers, boxers, and gymnasts who fly. Like presidents and justices who dared to ask why? In addition to the rhyming text, the book includes back matter with a timeline plus more information on the events, places, and people mentioned in the poem, from Mae Jemison to W.
About the Author
Rio Cortez is an award-winning poet and children's book writer. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The ABCs of Black History (Workman, 2020) and her debut poetry collection, Golden Ax, is forthcoming from Penguin Books in 2022. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT, she now lives and writes in Harlem, NY.
