Black History Month 2022

In commemoration of Black History Month, we'll be featuring articles, speeches, interviews, and reviews from The Horn Book's past year that are by and/or about African American authors, illustrators, and luminaries in the field — one a weekday through the month of February.

Last week's ALA Youth Media Awards announcement saw CSK Author and CSK Illustrator wins, a Sibert honor, along with a historic first posthumous Caldecott honor, for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and the late Floyd Cooper. The book was also a 2021 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Nonfiction honoree, so we're starting off the month with Carole's moving acceptance speech for that honor award.

Check back here to follow along each day/week and look for the social media tag #HBBlackHistoryMonth on Facebook.com/TheHornBook and @HornBook (see also HBBlackHistoryMonth16, HBBlackHistoryMonth17, HBBlackHistoryMonth18, HBBlackHistoryMonth19, HBBlackHistoryMonth20, and HBBlackHistoryMonth21). Be sure to follow The Brown Bookshelf's "28 Days Later" initiative ("designed to celebrate Black children’s book creators and raise awareness of those who may be under the radar of librarians, educators and families"), and on Twitter @brownbookshelf.

 

Week 1

2/1: Starred Fiction Review of the Week: Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds, illus. by Raúl the Third, color by Elaine Bay; Carole Boston Weatherford's 2021 BGHB Nonfiction Honor speech for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre from January/February 2022 Horn Book Magazine

2/2: Nonfiction Review of the Week: Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson; Christine Taylor-Butler's Nov/Dec 2021 Horn Book Magazine article "When Failure Is Not an Option: Connecting the Dots with STEM"

2/3: 2021 Children's Literature Legacy Award Acceptance by Mildred D. Taylor from July/August 2021 Horn Book Magazine; Book Bundles: Fight Racism by Monique Harris

2/4: YA Nonfiction for Black History Month 2022 from January 2022 Notes from the Horn Book

 

Week 2

2/7: Picture Book Review of the Week: When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke; Ashley Bryan 1923-2022; Five questions for Marilyn Nelson about Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life from January 2022 Notes from the Horn Book

2/8: Rita Williams-Garcia's 2021 BGHB Fiction and Poetry Award Speech for A Sitting in St. James from January/February 2022 Horn Book Magazine

2/9: Nonfiction Review of the Week: Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge by Gary Golio, illus. by James Ransome; Kekla Magoon on "Our Foundation, Our Springboard: The Trailblazing Work of Mildred D. Taylor and Jacqueline Woodson" from July/August 2021 Horn Book Magazine

2/10: Middle-grade novels about Black protagonists Stepping Up from January 2022 Notes from the Horn Book

2/11: Five questions for Lesa Cline-Ransome and Andrea Davis Pinkney about the She Persisted chapter book series from March 2021 Notes from the Horn Book

 

Week 3

2/14: Starred Picture Book Review of the Week: Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan, illus. by Mercè López; picture books about Black family love from January 2022 Notes from the Horn Book

2/15: 2021 BGHB Award Fiction and Poetry Honor acceptance speeches for Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam, and Omar T. Pasha from January/February 2022 Horn Book Magazine

2/16: Nonfiction Review of the Week: Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Mara Rockliff, illus. by R. Gregory Christie; Carole Boston Weatherford's Mar/Apr 2021 Horn Book Magazine article "More Than a Footnote: Challenges for BIPOC Nonfiction Authors"

2/17: 2021 CSK Illustrator Award Acceptance by Frank Morrison and Profile of 2021 CSK Illustrator Award winner Frank Morrison by Reka Simonsen both from July/August 2021 Horn Book Magazine; Five questions for Frank Morrison about Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Bastketball from February 2021 Notes from the Horn Book

2/18: #OwnVoices illustrated biographies highlighting Black history, American history from February 2021 Notes from the Horn Book; new Guide/Reviews Database booklist of 2021 picture-book biographies commemorating Black History Month 2022

 

Week 4

2/21: Starred Picture Book Review of the Week: The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale by Charly Palmer; Five questions for Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, and Nikkolas Smith from October 2021 Notes from the Horn Book

2/22: Fiction Review of the Week: When Winter Robeson Came by Brenda Woods; 2021 BGHB Award Picture Book Honor acceptance speeches for I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James from January/February 2022 Horn Book Magazine

2/23: Nonfiction Review of the Week: Seeking Freedom: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America by Selene Castrovilla, illus. by E. B. Lewis; William García-Medina's May/June 2021 Horn Book Magazine article "AfroLatin@ Children's Literature, Education, and the Black Diaspora"

2/24: Starred Poetry Review of the Week: Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life by Marilyn Nelson; 2021 CSK–Virginia Hamilton Award Acceptance by Dorothy L. Guthrie from July/August 2021 Horn Book Magazine

2/25: Sci-fi/fantasy novels for Black History Month from February 2021 Notes from the Horn Book

 

Week 5

2/28: "My Father's Final Lesson - The Zena Sutherland Lecture" by Jason Reynolds from September/October 2021 Horn Book Magazine

 

Click the tag HBBlackHistoryMonth22 for more articles in this series.

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