Anne Bustard: Children's Author

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African American

February 26 Birthday: Fats Domino

by Anne on February 26, 2010

Fats Domino, musician

Feb. 26, 1928-

Shake Rattle and Roll
Shake, Rattle & Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll by Holly George-Warren, illustrated by Laura Levine (Houghton Mifflin, 2001)

Domino learned to play piano when he was ten. Born and raised in New Orleans, he’s still rockin’.

Domino was an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

February 17 Birthday: Michael Jordan

by Anne on February 17, 2010

jump

Michael Jordan, athlete

Feb. 17, 1963-

Jump! From the Life of Michael Jordan by Floyd Cooper (Philomel, 2004)

Meet African-American basketball player Air Jordan as a child and young adult in this picture book biography about him. Hoops, anyone?

NBA.com offers a player profile of Jordan. Check it out.

February 5 Birthday: Hank Aaron

by Anne on February 5, 2010

Hank Aaron, athletehank_arron

Feb. 5, 1934-

Hank Aaron: Brave in Every Way by Peter Golenbock, illustrated by Paul Lee (Gulliver Books, 2001)

African-American baseball great Hank Aaron followed his dream and in spite of the racial tensions in the 1960s and hate mail directed to him, he kept on and broke the home run record of Babe Ruth.

Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, Aaron is featured on their site.

February 1 Birthday: Langston Hughes

by Anne on February 1, 2010

langtonstrainrideLangston Hughes, poet

Feb. 1, 1902-May 22, 1967

Langston’s Train Ride by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins (Orchard, 2004)

When Hughes was eighteen, he took a train from Ohio to Mexico. During his journey he wrote one of his most famous poems, The Negro Speaks of Rivers. This is the story of that ride and creation of that poem.

PoetryFoundation.org hosts several of Hughes’ poems.

January 26 Birthday: Bessie Coleman

by Anne on January 26, 2010

TalkingAbtBessie

Bessie Coleman, aviator

Jan. 26, 1892-Apr. 30, 1926

Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Orchard, 2002)

The first African-American woman airplane pilot’s story is told in approximately two-dozen fictionalized poems a.k.a. eulogies about her life.

PBS features a bio and photo of Coleman on their Fly Girls page.

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