CARTER READS THE NEWSPAPER- written by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Don Tate

As a long time urban educator and as the mom of two African American sons, I think I have a fairly extensive knowledge (not to mention a library) of famous African Americans. Nevertheless, this week I learned about a person that was totally new to me when I read CARTER READS THE NEWSPAPER.

Carter Woodson was born on a small farm in Virginia in 1875. His father was a former slave and solder in the Union Army. His mother had vivid childhood memories of standing on the auction block. The pair struggled to support their family of seven, and Carter only went to school four months out of every year, because he had to work on the family farm the rest of the year. Carter began his scholarly career reading the newspaper to his father.

At age 16, Carter followed an older brother into the coal mines. One of the coal miners opened his home to the miners every night. When the men discovered Carter could read, he was again pressed into service. At age twenty, Carter finally returned to high school. He graduated in two years, then went on to college, eventually earning a Ph.D from Harvard. When a professor stated that the Blacks had no history, Carter was determined to prove him wrong. He dedicated the rest of his life to proving that, establishing Negro History Week, which later became Black History Month,  in 1926.

Deborah Hopkinson is one of my favorite storytellers and Don Tate's artwork definitely enhances the story. During the first pass, I read for story, but during the second, I noticed how Tate had worked drawings of more than fifty famous African Americans into the illustrations.

End pages include "Learn More about Carter G. Woodson" as well as an author's and illustrator's note.

THE CRAYON MAN: THE INVENTION OF THE CRAYOLA CRAYON by Natascha Biebow, illustrated by Steven Salerno

Once there was a man who saw color EVERYWHERE.

     He noticed the yellow-orange petals of the black-eyed Susans
         in his garden. He marvelled at the rich scarlet-red tones of
             the cardinal's feathers. He admired the deep blue-greens
                 of the waves in the sea. 

                         Color made him really, really HAPPY!

So begins Natascha Bierbow's picture book biography about Edwin Binney, the man who invented crayola crayons. Binney worked at a factory where carbon black, a substance used in things like printing inks and shoe polish, was made. In his spare time, Binney invented slate pencils and a wax crayon that would write on wood and paper packaging. When his wife told him that children needed better and cheaper crayons, Binney went to work. And all of us know the result....

End pages include a two-page spread about how crayons are made today, and another page with more information about Edwin Binney.

Pair this with MAGIC RAMEN and POP, also Chris Barton's WHOOSH!

MAGIC RAMEN by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz

My middle schoolers love, love, love their ramen noodles.

And I'm pretty sure they will love this picture book biography that describes how Momofuku Ando invented ramen noodles shortly after World War II.  Thinking MAGIC RAMEN would pair really well with POP: THE INVENTION OF BUBBLE GUM by MEGHAN McCARTHY. Or make a nice addition to a unit on persistence.

End pages include an author's note, a pronunciation guide, and an afterword with additional information about Momofuku Ando.