The History of We

by Nikkolas Smith

Overview

An awe-inspiring picture book about the origin and advancement of humans, from author and #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Nikkolas Smith.

Fossil records show that the first humans were born in Africa. Meaning, every person on Earth can trace their ancestry back to that continent. The History of We celebrates our shared ancestors' ingenuity and achievements and imagines what these firsts would have looked and felt like.

What was it like for the first person to paint, to make music, to dance, to discover medicine, to travel to unknown lands? It required courage, curiosity, and skill. 

The History of We takes what we know about modern human civilization and, through magnificent paintings, creates a tale about our shared beginnings in a way that centers Black people in humankind's origin story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593619698
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	34 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nikkolas Smith is an Artivist, picture book author, and Hollywood film illustrator. He is the author-illustrator of the USA TODAY bestselling picture book The Artivist, The Golden Girls of Rio, and My Hair Is Poofy & That’s Okay. He also illustrated the picture books A Change Is Gonna Come, Captain America: Brave New World: A Hero Looks Like You, I Am Ruby Bridges, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: The Courage to Dream, That Flag, and the #1 New York Times bestselling The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. Many of Nikkolas’s viral and globally published sketches that have sparked important conversations and inspired meaningful change are included in his book Sunday Sketch: The Art of Nikkolas. He speaks on his Artivism and leads digital painting workshops at conferences, workplaces, and schools around the world. Nikkolas was born in Houston, Texas, and now lives in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The History of We by Nikkolas Smith:

★ “Combining vibrant, painterly illustrations and short, lyrical, explanatory paragraphs, Smith outlines major contributions of these various groups from prehistoric Africa.” —The Horn Book, starred review

★ “Light but layered verse resists oversimplifying…It’s impossible to overstate the emotional effect of Smith’s artwork—simultaneously majestic and intimate…A triumph.” —Kirkus Review, starred review

★ “Each chapter of our history is set upon gorgeous painted landscapes or scenes of human ingenuity in action… Joy, struggle, and innovation are displayed throughout the ages, not only laying out a wide-spanning history but also upending the problematic idea that civilization began much later and that it was rooted in whiteness.” —Booklist, starred review

★“[A] celebration of early human ingenuity….The text and art are elegantly matched in both beauty and impact…[E]xpansive and intimate, reminding readers of the connections running through all humanity.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

“Using phrases that incorporate a communal we, and thickly stroked acrylic paintings that feel full of movement, Smith (The Artivist) establishes a progression of humankind’s creativity. . .It’s a visually rich collective history of humankind.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 2025-04-04
A lyrical meditation on the chronology of humanity’s shared beginnings.

“What does ‘the beginning’ look like?” It unfolds here as both poetry and revelation, an invitation to recognize the connection between past and present. Rather than presenting history as something distant or hidden, Smith emphasizes that our origins—our art, our inventions, our knowledge of how to cultivate land, our propensity for exploration, and more—are plainly visible in the earliest marks we left upon the African continent and, eventually, the rest of our planet. In his author’s note, Smith states that he wrote the work as a counternarrative to textbooks that omitted mention of early African civilizations. Depicting Black adults and children creating, building, and thriving, his illustrations close with a diverse group of people standing proudly—a powerful demonstration of how “one group became many… / became the first global population… / BecameWe.” His light but layered verse resists oversimplifying; he trusts readers to find themselves among our documented beginnings and within the very concept of “we.” It’s impossible to overstate the emotional effect of Smith’s artwork—simultaneously majestic and intimate. Whether depicting the swirling cosmos or individual eyes alight as they gaze out at readers, every single brush stroke is alive with movement and intention. An annotated timeline adds accessible anthropological context to each aspect of humanity discussed.

A triumph. (author’s note)(Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews