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Books, Black Joy and Coffee

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Hey There!

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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📚🤎 Two Books to help you keep Black joy and

📚🤎 Two Books to help you keep Black joy and Black culture at the center of your reading life 365 days of the year.

📚Featured Books 📚

⭐️ Soul School is our favorite homeschooling mama’s latest book. It is a wonderful reference guide with book suggestions for ages 2-Teen, engaging questions to start great discussions, and activities to help you and your young reader go beyond the book. Homeschooling or not, If you have a reader at home under 17 then grab this one.

⭐️52 Weeks of Black Joy gives you 52 different Black people you probably haven't heard of that are finding joy and purpose in their passions ranging from bird watching, to filmmaking to rugby. These short biographies have fantastic, colorful illustrations on a two page spread that are chock full of facts, quotes and other information. I love that these uncommon professions show kids that Black people are not a monolith and that they too can be cellists, beekeepers, breath work coaches, and enthnomusicologists.

Review books were sent by the author and the publisher, and we thank you.

📚🍀🌈✨️A middle grade chapter book for

📚🍀🌈✨️A middle grade chapter book for every color of the rainbow!

Which one caught your eye?

Allow me to reintroduce myself.... 🤯🫠🫣😳. I've become so much more introverted the older I get, so intro posts always make me a little nervous.

But there are so many new faces around here, thought I would say 👋🏾,since the last time I did an intro post was a few YEARS ago. Oops!

Thank you for being here,
Do we have anything in common?

📚✨️They were brave, they were Black, and th

📚✨️They were brave, they were Black, and they were first!

📣 Shout out to these amazing women and so many more who DARED to disrupt the narrative that said they couldn't.

📣 Shout out to the authors, illustrators, and publishers, who brought these important picture book biographies to life in a way that will capture little minds.

Happy International Women's Day!

📚❤️Diverse Books Are for Every Month-Not Ju

📚❤️Diverse Books Are for Every Month-Not Just February & Heritage Months!

This is my #weereadswednesday PSA 😋

Ever notice how diverse books flood the shelves during Black History Month, AAPI Heritage Month, or
Hispanic Heritage Month... but then disappear the rest of the year?

The truth is that representation shouldn't be seasonal. Kids need to see diverse stories all/ year long. Whether it's joyful everyday moments, adventures, or history that goes beyond the same few figures.

Drop a 📚 in the comments if you're committing to diverse books beyond heritage months!

When the babies get ready for bed early enough JUS

When the babies get ready for bed early enough JUST so you'll read this book? Enough said.

The author, Atinuke, is a gem. Her 20+ picture books with Nigerian representation are always fun, but this chapter book ATE, and I hope there is a sequel in the works.

From the beautiful illustrations to the charming baby goat, to the wild and free rural lifestyle, this book drew my babies in and lulled them to sleep.

Although there are only 4 chapters, they were very long, so we usually broke them up over a few nights.

Even the 5th grader who "pretended" to be reading her own book while snuggled next to me, was peeking over my shoulder to see what was going on.

This book was sent by the publisher for review and we thank you! All opinions are my own.

Black people escaped, that's it, that's the last c

Black people escaped, that's it, that's the last caption for Black History Month!

FEATURED BOOKS

📚Following the Drinking Gourd: Black people used coded songs to find their way to freedom

📚 Little Golden Book Biography: Harriet Tubman: Black people escaped on the underground railroad

📚The Patchwork Path and Sewing Stories : Black People sewed escape routes into quilt patterns

📚 Henry's Box: One very brave soul, mailed himself to freedom with the help of other gentleman, he almost died, do not recommend this book if you are claustrophobic 😬

📚 Freedom Braids: Black women would braid intricate maps into each other's hair to use as they ran. (This book was the winner of the Best Historical award 🏆 for the #blackkidlitawards)

Zora Neale Hurston has been gone for 65 yeara but

Zora Neale Hurston has been gone for 65 yeara but her latest work was JUST published in January of this year. While she wrote many plays, essays, and short stories she only completed 4 full novels, including: Jonah's Gourd Vine, Their eyes were watching God, and Moses the Man on the Mountain, which is the prequel to Herod.

A literary giant, she was a much studied figure during my creative writing and Black studies college courses. So this Black History Month, I set out to tackle her last book.

This last complete manuscript, saved from a fire and edited by Deborah G. Plant would flip the King Herod, we know, as the tyrannical leader who ordered the murder of innocents on it’s head.

Historians don’t believe this decree ever took place and that Herod died years before Jesus was even born. What Hurston suggests is that Herod was soldier, athlete, statesman, devotee of higher learning and tragic lover.

I will say that this one took a while to get through because Hurston wrote in a very elevated language. Mix that with names like Hyrcannus and Aristoblus and Mariamne to mentally trip over, and I wasn’t sure if I was reading a Shakespearean play, a greek tragedy, or an antique Bible.

Still this is captivating and the story of why she wrote this book (a pushback to her Christian, don’t question anything in the Bible upbringing) and why she felt compelled to spend YEARS researching this man is fascinating in itself.

If you like a good historical fiction, give this one a try.

This was a Tour Stop for #thelifeofherodthegreat for #hearourvoices

Before you leave Black History Month, don't forget

Before you leave Black History Month, don't forget about your newly independent readers.

📚 Leveled Readers Step Into Reading:
Melody Lifts Her Voice
Dream March
#randomhousekids

📚Graphic Novels:
Josephine Baker
Ida B. Wells
Rosa Parks
#sunbirdkidsbooks

📚 The Who Was series
Who Are Venus and Serena?
Who Was Rosa Parks?
#penguinkids

📚Illustrated Chapter Books
The Story of series:

Fannie Lou Hamer
Martin Luther King, jr.
Harriet Tubman
Jackie Robinson
#sourcebooks

With the exception of the WHO WAS series, all books were sent by the publisher for review and we thank you!

You can't talk about Black History without talkin

You can't talk about Black History without talking about civil rights songs (I mean, you could, but where would the fun be in that?)

Besides sharing books, sharing songs like these of Black faith, Black pride, Black struggle, and Black resilience is a powerful way to help kids connect with this part of History and get them dancing in their seats.

🏆Freedom Braids was the winner of the Best Historical category for the #BlackKidLitAwards

Favorite civil rights song?

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