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I’m Naima, a multi-passionate creative. When I’m not folding laundry I’m searching for picture books that enchant, surprise, encourage, inspire, and bring joy for my kids and yours!

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We have made it through 739 days of January😋, s

We have made it through 739 days of January😋, so here are a few books to make the other 335 days of the year brighter.

What looks interesting?
Have you done a read aloud-a-day before?

🐍Slither and slide into the Lunar New Year, the

🐍Slither and slide into the Lunar New Year, the year of the Wood Snake. Today begins the 15 day spring festival and the girls and I have had several conversations in the past few days about this holiday.

🐍They wanted to know what animal was associated with the year they were born, why it's called Chinese New Year, AND Lunar New Year (and TET).

🐍 Do I have all of these answers? Nope, I'm a Black mama who doesn't celebrate this holiday. But you know what I do have? Books and google. We can learn and discover together. When I say diversify your shelves, this is what I mean.

📚Featured Books📚

📚Mai's Ao Dai| Thai Guyen and Monique Troung
📚Amy Wu and the Lantern Festival | Kat Zhang
📚A Sweet New Year for Ren | Michelle Sterling
📚Why We Eat Fried Peanuts | Zed Zha
📚 Lunar New Year Surprise |Jade Wang

Take a deep breath. The winners of the Black kidli

Take a deep breath. The winners of the Black kidlit awards will be announced THIS FRIDAY!🤗🏆❤️

🚨JANUARY 31, 2025🚨

Chosing JUST 5 out of almost 100 submissions was an impossible choice. There are so many more books that I loved and will share with you in the coming weeks, but here are 5 that took my breath away

📚Featured Books 📚
My Antarctica
A to Z: Ayo's Adventure
Halima's Superhero Princess
Crowning Glory
Bros

➡️ For more Black Kidlit Award information, make sure to follow the @blackkidlitcollective

The ALA Youth Media Award ceremony happened this m

The ALA Youth Media Award ceremony happened this morning and the top honor The Caldecott (best picture book) and the Newbury medal (best middle grade) along one several other awards were given for rhe best childrens literature published during 2024.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.

One Big Open Sky was one of my favorite middle grades in 2024. Narrated by three women of different ages, it tells the story of a Black family in 1889 journeying west to Nebraska by covered wagon.

Congratulations to this book and all of the other winners this year! 🎖#alayma

Here's a little Black book joy for your timeline.

Here's a little Black book joy for your timeline. I know I came a little hard yesterday 😋, just wanted to balance things out by sharing SOME of MY picks for the 2024 Black Kidlit Awards in the category of:

❤️ BEST BLACK JOY ❤️

The official results will be released on January 31, just in time for Black History Month. What can you do while you wait?

* Support these authors (likes, shares, reviews)
* Check these books our from your local library
* If your library doesn't have them, REQUEST THEM
* Purchase these from your small local bookstore

Which one would you choose?

No caption necessary.... 📚 FEATURED BOOKS * F

No caption necessary....

📚 FEATURED BOOKS

* Fry Bread
* Race to the Trust Middle Grade Series
* Love in the Library
* Sit-in
* The Undefeated
*Carrimebac
*That Flag
*Nina
* Standing in the Need of Prayer

❄️It's WORLD SNOW DAY! ❄️ ❄️You all s

❄️It's WORLD SNOW DAY! ❄️

❄️You all saw Atlanta lose their minds last week with a rare snowfall, the last of it just melted off our walkways. So, surprise, suprise, today our school just issued another imminent weather WATCH for Tuesday.

❄️ So I thought I would just put this reel out here with my best wishes for another snow day. Either way, we are getting a rare Arctic blast this week.

Who is Martin Luther King Jr. to you? How do you w

Who is Martin Luther King Jr. to you? How do you want to share his life and legacy with your children?Try this round up of...
👑 Picture books
👑Chapter books and one
👑 Very adorable boardbook finger puppet

to continue the conversation with them. #blackhistory365

🚨GIVEAWAY CLOSED🚨 CONGRATULATIONS: @lalalib

🚨GIVEAWAY CLOSED🚨
CONGRATULATIONS: @lalalibrarianmusic

🩰One thing I wanted to do more of in 2025 is host more giveaways and I'm kicking off this year with this beautiful YA nonfiction book based on the legacy and sisterhood of 5 Black ballerinas from the Dance Theatre of Harlem in the 1960s.

🩰If your teen(12+) thinks that the first groundbreaking Black ballerina was Misty Copeland then make sure to grab this book. The adult novel came out in April of 2024, and if you get yourself a copy, you can tandem read this with your teen.

🩰Also make sure to keep your eyes out for the Netflix miniseries that is currently in development.

🩰 HOW TO ENTER
1. Follow @DramaMamaReads @delacortepress and @theswansofharlem
2. Tag a friend below or let me know if you've ever taken ballet lessons.

Voila! You’re entered!
On Wednesday, January 22 I’ll select a winner.

This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram in any way. The winner will only be contacted via this account. You must have a US address to enter.

A synopsis:
📚 THE SWANS OF HARLEM YA ADAPTATION:
This is the full accounting of five incredibly talented Black ballerinas from The Dance Theatre of Harlem, founding members among them, that illuminates their hard-fought, historic, and overlooked contributions to the world of classical dance at a time when racism shut out Black dancers from major dance companies.

At the peak of the civil rights movement, Lydia Abarca, Shelia Rohan, Gayle McKinney-Griffith, and first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells, -performed around the world for audiences that included celebrities, dignitaries, and royalty.

Now, decades later, these trailblazing ballerinas and longtime friends are giving voice to their stories on- and offstage, reclaiming their past so that it is finally recorded, acknowledged, and lauded, never to be lost again.

One thing is clear... Ya'll like a good lip sync

One thing is clear...

Ya'll like a good lip sync 🤣🤣🤣
Which one was your favorite? 9, 8, 7,6...?

❤️These were all so fun to make, and I so appreciate your laughs, likes, and overall support as we celebrated literacy and beautiful books in 2024.

❤️Here's to another year of bookish fun!
Year 5 😳😳😳 can you believe it?

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