Books with author Andrea Pinkney

It was February 1, 1960.They didn't need menus. Their order was simple.A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side.This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement. Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter. Brian Pinkney embraces a new artistic style, creating expressive paintings filled with emotion that mirror the hope, strength, and determination that fueled the dreams of not only these four young men, but also countless others.

Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Her parents decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously all-white school -- but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll in this new school. Not everyone in Dawnie's town of Hadley, Virginia, supports integration, though, and much of the community is outraged by the decision. As she starts school, Dawnie encounters the harsh realities of racism. But the backlash against her arrival at Prettyman Coburn is more than she's prepared for, and she begins to wonder if the hardship is worth it. Will Dawnie be able to hold on to the true meaning of justice and remain faithful to her own sense of integrity?

From award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney comes the story of the music that defined a generation and a movement that changed the world.Berry Gordy began Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. He converted the garage of a residential house into a studio and recruited teenagers from the neighborhood-like Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross-to sing for his new label. Meanwhile, the country was on the brink of a cultural revolution, and one of the most powerful agents of change in the following decade would be this group of young black performers from urban Detroit. From Berry Gordy and his remarkable vision to the Civil Rights movement, from the behind-the-scenes musicians, choreographers, and song writers to the most famous recording artists of the century, Andrea Davis Pinkney takes readers on a Rhythm Ride through the story of Motown.

Each of us has a “silent thunder” – a quiet desire that rumbles from deep-down. For eleven-year-old Summer and her older brother Rosco, their secret dreams seem far out of reach. Both are slaves on a Virginia plantation in the year 1862. More than anything, Summer wants to learn to read and write. Rosco is eager to join the Union Army so that he can fight for the cause that would allow all people to be free. Told in alternating voices, this is a work of historical fiction by bestselling and award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney.

Throughout his life Banneker was troubled that all blacks were not free. And so, in 1791, he wrote to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who had signed the Declaration of Independence. Banneker attacked the institution of slavery and dared to call Jefferson a hypocrite for owning slaves. Jefferson responded. This is the story of Benjamin Banneker--his science, his politics, his morals, and his extraordinary correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. Illustrated in full-page scratchboard and oil paintings by Caldecott Honor artist Brian Pinkney.

Each of us has a “silent thunder” – a quiet desire that rumbles from deep-down. For eleven-year-old Summer and her older brother Rosco, their secret dreams seem far out of reach. Both are slaves on a Virginia plantation in the year 1862. More than anything, Summer wants to learn to read and write. Rosco is eager to join the Union Army so that he can fight for the cause that would allow all people to be free. Told in alternating voices, this is a work of historical fiction by bestselling and award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney.

"This markedly talented husband-and-wife team offers a warm profile of dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey . . . intertwining Ailey's alleged thoughts and conversations with facts about his childhood, his introduction to the world of dance . . . and his founding of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958."--"Publishers Weekly," starred review. Full color.

Help boil the greens, flip the fish, and slice the pie for a mouth-watering family meal in I Smell Honey, then join the fun as a baby boy discovers the unique features that make his face so special in Pretty Brown Face. In Shake Shake Shake and Watch Me Dance, explore the joys of rhythm and movement. These spirited board books celebrate the loving closeness of an African American family.

Ella Fitzgerald began her life as a singer on the stage of the Apollo Theater when she was just seventeen years old. Her rich voice and vocal innovations brought her fame and a remarkable career than spanned half a century and won her generations of fans around the world. Acclaimed author Andrea Davis Pinkney has told Ella's inspiring story in the voice of Scat Cat Monroe, a feline fan whose imagined narrative sings with the infectious rhythms of scat. Two-time Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney's dramatic perspectives and fantastical images offer a jazzy improvisation all their own.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award and a New York Times Notable Children's Book HAND IN HAND presents the stories of ten Black men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. Each biography is an accessible, fully-drawn narrative offering the subjects' childhood influences, the time and place in which they lived, their accomplishments and motivations, and the legacies they left for future generations as links in the "freedom chain." Together the stories of these and their individual accomplishments blend to tell one story: a story of triumph. Features dynamic full color portraits and spot illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor winner and multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award recipient Brian Pinkney. Backmatter includes a civil rights timeline, sources, and further reading.Profiled:Benjamin BannekerFrederick DouglassBooker T. WashingtonW.E.B. DuBoisA. Philip RandolphThurgood MarshallJackie RobinsonMalcolm XMartin Luther King, JrBarack H. Obama II

Born into slavery, Belle had to endure the cruelty of several masters before she escaped to freedom. But she knew she wouldn't really be free unless she was helping to end injustice. That's when she changed her name to Sojourner and began traveling across the country, demanding equal rights for black people and for women. Many people weren't ready for her message, but Sojourner was brave, and her truth was powerful. And slowly, but surely as Sojourner's step-stomp stride, America began to change.