Showing titles in Literary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary spent her entire lifetime fighting for justice and equality for African Americans. Born a free African American in the 1820s, Cary started schools for black children and wrote books and articles. She was also the first black woman to publish a weekly newspaper and to enter...

Taken from her family in Africa at the age of seven, Phillis Wheatley arrived in Boston as a slave in 1761. After she was purchased by the Wheatley family, Phillis quickly learned to speak and read English. The bright young girl soon began writing poetry. By 1771, her poems had been published in...

In 1945, when Jella was tasked with what seemed like an insurmountable challenge―to create a haven of imagination and joy for the children of a Germany scarred by war—she turned to a steadfast companion: books. As a Jewish woman who had fled from the Nazis, Jella was determined to restore a sense of childhood to the young people who had only known conflict and violence. Despite constant obstacles, Jella persevered, and with the help of publishers and children from around the world, she amassed an extraordinary collection of 4,000 children’s books in pursuit of her mission to promote peace.

Discover the story of young James Baldwin in this ode to the legendary writer and the power of the written word—with exquisite prose from acclaimed poet Quartez Harris. The first time Jimmy read a book the words clung to him like glitter... Before James Baldwin was a celebrated novelist...

Stunning poetry introduce a new generation to the beloved literary icon Toni Morrison, by New York Times bestselling author Andrea Davis Pinkney and Caldecott Honor winner Daniel Minter. From imaginative child to visionary storyteller, Toni Morrison was a fiercely inspiring writer that helped...

Tomie has his own diary with a lock and a key&150now he can write down all his secrets and no one will be able to read them. All through the year, exciting things happen and Tomie writes about them in his diary. Sledding down the steep hill on his new Junior Flexible Flyer, being a pirate in...

Tomie keeps hearing the phrase, ?For the duration.? Gas is being rationed ?for the duration.? The Fourth of July fireworks will be the last show ?for the duration.? So many things will be different as long as the war goes on, but much of Tomie?s life goes on as usual. He?s excited about starring...

Beloved author-illustrator Tomie dePaola lets listeners experience what life was like growing up in his household in this award-winning series of chapter books highlighting his sense of humor and strong family bonds. #5: Things Will Never Be the Same Tomie has his own diary with a lock and a...

#1: 26 Fairmount Avenue Tomie's family starts building their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in 1938, just as a hurricane hits town, starting off a busy, crazy year. Tomie has many adventures all his own, including eating chocolate with his Nana Upstairs, only to find out—the hard way—that...

Young Mary Oliver was enthralled by nature. In the forest, she wondered about the birds and the lilies and the water in the stream—about all the things that cannot speak yet somehow spoke to Mary. She wondered, too, about poetry, about how words pieced together filled her with light and how some poems felt like they were written just for her. How could this be?

Young Pauline Baynes lives in India, a land of towering mountains, sparkling lakes, and bright flowers. She even has a pet monkey that joins her for tea. Then her life takes a turn, and Pauline is sent to dreary England. Books bring light and color to her world, so she sets out to paint the stories she loves. Years later, two iconic authors see her paintings and know she’s the illustrator for their stories—of fire-breathing dragons, towering giants, a golden lion, and four brave children.

Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman reflects on his childhood with his award-winning father, Sid Fleischman, and details his own path to becoming a writer in this memorable book that is part memoir, part travelogue, and part reflection on craft and creativity. No Map, Great Trip is an excellent...

When Woody Rawls read The Call of the Wild, a classic novel about a stolen mistreated dog and a kindly man, his life was forever changed. Maybe it was because he loved his own dog, or maybe it was because the story reached deep into his heart and stayed there. From then on, Woody was determined to learn to write and become a teller of tales. Woody didn't care that he couldn’t afford pen and paper. He would use a stick in the sand if he had to. Woody trusted his heart and used his imagination to create his stories, which he shared with Rowdy, his trusty hound. 

August Wilson grew up open to the creative inspiration in everything he encountered: in library books, in music, in artworks, in the lively conversations overheard in the restaurants and barbershops lining the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his childhood. August paid attention. He listened. And when he got older, he got ideas about what to do with everything he’d seen and heard—ideas that would make him one of the greatest playwrights in American history.

Walt Whitman is celebrated as an iconic American poet, but few know of the crucial and heroic role he played tending to the wounded and dying in Civil War hospitals. This nonfiction book highlights Whitman’s compassion and teaches an important lesson about empathy. New York Times-bestselling author Gary Golio and Caldecott Honor artist E. B. Lewis bring Whitman’s story and his passion for America to life.

When Jules Verne was born in 1828, his family had his future planned out for him. They expected him to become a lawyer, but he dreamed of writing. He started out writing more traditional poetry and plays, but then he began to create a new, unconventional kind of fiction. It combined adventure...

More than a century after Louisa May Alcott wrote them, classics such as Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys continue to be read and treasured by readers around the world. Alcott began writing as a young girl and dreamed of becoming a rich and famous author. Despite supporting her entire...

Lydia Maria Child grew up in the 1800s reading countless books. She defied the idea that girls weren't supposed to fill their minds with ideas and stories. They weren't supposed to write their own books, either, but that is exactly what Lydia Maria did. Although she gained remarkable success as...

Growing up in China as the child of American missionaries, Pearl read and listened to stories from both the East and the West. A story, she thought, was a wonderful way to learn about people and places. Pearl had read and heard about America and her family there, but she had never met her...

"No! No!" cried the little boy. "Please, no! I want to stay with my mother!" "Be quiet!" shouted the man, roughly pulling his mother away from him. This heartbreaking scene was the reality for thousands of women and children before slavery was abolished. One man dedicated his life to changing...