Celebrate Black History Month with 5 Fabulous Picture Books

Ruth and the Green Book, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Floyd Cooper
Ruth is an African American girl growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, looking forward to a road trip with her family to visit her grandma in Alabama. Ruth’s dad gets his 1952 sea-mist green Buick ready for the trip and they set out with spirits high. But at the first service station where they stop for gas, the owner tells them the restrooms are for whites only. The family is denied rooms at hotels and service at restaurants until a friend tells them to visit Esso service stations, which welcome everyone. At an Esso station, the family buys a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book that lists businesses and people who will welcome them in every state along their journey, and from then on their road trip goes smoothly. This book doesn’t shy away from depicting the ugliness of Jim Crow laws, but focuses on the positive stories of people who helped each other when segregation held sway.

The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom, by Bettye Stroud and Erin Susanne Bennett 
During every period of darkness in our nation’s history, stories of light about heroes who risked their lives to help others emerge, such as the history of the Underground Railroad. One fascinating aspect of the Underground Railroad is the coded quilts used to alert escaped slaves about safe houses and warn them away from dangers. Several children’s book authors have written about the quilt code, and one of the best stories is Bettye Stroud’s The Patchwork Path. Ten-year-old Hannah is a slave in Georgia. As she stitches a coded quilt with her mother, she learns about the special messages conveyed by the patches. After Hannah’s sister is sold and her mother dies of a broken heart, Hannah and her father make a daring journey to escape to the north, using the quilt as their guide.

Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman, by Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger, and Teresa Flavin
This book will inspire anyone who has every experienced setbacks on the path toward their dream. Bessie Coleman was born in 1892 in Texas, where she picked cotton to help earn money for her family. She eventually moved to Chicago, and learned about French women who were pilots during World War I. She dreamed of becoming a pilot, and asked around for lessons, but no one would teach her. So she saved money, learned French, moved to Paris, and enrolled in an aviation school. She became the first African-American to earn a pilot’s license. Fly High! celebrates her triumphs with colorful illustrations and engaging text.

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman, by Kathleen Krull and David Diaz
Wilma Rudolph was born premature in Tennessee in 1940, but her loving family—of 22 siblings—nursed her to health. “As soon as this girl could walk, she ran or jumped instead,” Krull writes. As a child, Wilma contracted polio, and it was believed she’d never walk again. But Wilma defied the odds and learned how to not only walk, but run, faster than any other girl. She earned a full scholarship to Tennessee State University where she joined the track team. She made the U.S. track team and at the 1960 Rome Olympics won the 100 and 200 meter dash, as well as helping her team take home the gold in the 4 X 100 meter relay. David Diaz’s charming, stylized illustrations convey the energy and spirit of Wilma and her triumph.

Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy, by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Davis Pinkney
This book introduces kids to colorful cowboy Bill Pickett, who grew up as the “feistiest boy south of Abilene. He was quick as a jackrabbit, more wide-eyed than a hooty owl—and curious.” Pickett’s father was born a slave who was forced to migrate west to Texas with his owner. In Texas, he learned how to “swing a lariat” and brand cattle, knowledge he one day passed along to his son, Bill. Bill developed a rough-and-tumble style as a rodeo performer known as “bulldoggin’,” became a star in the 101 Ranch Wild West Show, and was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Jouncy, fun-loving language and finely detailed scratchboard illustrations bring this story to life.