African-American Children, Tweens and Teens Best Sellers
Many generations of Americans know little about African American authors and illustrators. Pyramid Books has identified seven key ingredients to look for in Afrocentric books suitable for all children’s literature nutrition. These books should do the following things:
• Provide positive images that leave lasting impressions.
• Provide accurate, factual information that is enjoyable to read.
• Contain meaningful stories that reflect a range of African American values and lifestyles.
• Present nonfiction that is relevant to today’s issues.
• Contain materials that are self-affirming.
• Portray strong three-dimensional characters.
• Contain attractive graphics.
The choices adults make as parents, grandparents, guardians, and teachers about literature for children, unequivocally nature or deprive children’s literary development. We must also promote solutions about loving to and learning to read. It is our duty to sustain a lifelong will to read. Our children's literary lives depend on what we are doing today .
“History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.”
― Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
