How picture books act as âwindows and mirrorsâ for kids learning about civil rights
By Natachi Onwuamaegbu Globe Correspondent,Updated April 27, 2021, 2 hours ago
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Earl Bradley (E. B.) Lewis s illustration for The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson.Courtesy Penguin Random House LLC
Andrea Davis Pinkneyâs âPicture the Dreamâ exhibition at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art opens with a watercolor painting of a young Black girl reaching her hand across a fence to a white girl. The sky is blue but cloudy.
The words under the image read, âMy mama says I shouldnât go on the other side â¦â
How childrenâs books carry on the struggle for civil rights
By Murray Whyte Globe Staff,Updated April 9, 2021, 2 hours ago
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Philippe Lardy s illustration for A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson.Philippe Lardy
AMHERST â On the left is a simple drawing of young Rosa McCauley, her black hair tied in bows, posed with her parents and baby brother at home in Tuskegee, Ala. On the right are pale riders in white hoods on dark horses, thundering hatred through the inky night. The question is not how these images can coexist, but why. Theyâre pages from the renowned artist and activist Faith Ringgoldâs 1999 childrenâs book âIf a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks.â (McCauley was Parksâs maiden name.) And theyâre as powerful an emblem as any of the divide that still cleaves the heart of American society.