Any time is great to find books that teach history and affirm a place in the world for everybody, and that’s exactly what “Brown Girls Rule” by Ashok Banker and “Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis” by Lessa Cline-Ransome is able to do for readers. Both books, suitable for elementary-age children, are colorful, beautifully illustrated, and available through your favorite bookseller.
“Brown Girls Rule”
By Ashok Banker
Illustrated by Brittany Bond
32 Pages
Ages 5-8
Publisher: Beaming Books
Ashok Banker has written a short, easy-to-read poetry-style book where brown girls from many cultures are affirmed. It is an inclusive, diverse look at brown girls aspiring to be politicians, athletes, scientists, teachers, queens, and leaders in countless other roles.
Brittany Bond’s illustrations are sharp and colorful, showing brown girls with a range of abilities, girls working together on projects, and taking on advocacy roles.
“Brown Girls Rule” is a winner by showing how self-awareness grows into self-love and respect. Young brown girls will be empowered by this book and be eager to share with friends.
“Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis”
Illustrated by James E. Ransome
48 Pages
Ages 4-8
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
John Robert Lewis was born to be a leader for peace. Author Lessa Cline-Ransome takes us on Lewis’ life calling, from his birth in Troy, Alabama, to his final days in July 2020.
Lewis was filled with love because that was the environment set by his parents.
This book follows Lewis from his rural upbringing working in the cotton field to hearing a young Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio, going away to seminary school in Nashville, and getting involved in civil rights work. The young student immediately joined the Nashville chapter of the NAACP, where he met other young civil rights activists, including Marion Barry, former mayor of the District of Columbia.
As an advocate for equal justice, Lewis was involved in protest movements and was arrested multiple times. He was severely beaten when marching over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
This book does not go into Lewis’ political life because the focus is on how the man became who he was to the world. The love and the people around Lewis had a common vision of equal justice.
James E. Ransome, an award-winning illustrator, produced action-oriented images that make it easy to experience Lewis as a child hauling cotton, being attentive to what he’s hearing on the radio, and being arrested for peaceful protesting.
Though this book is targeted at young children, there is a bonus that adults will appreciate. At the end of the book is a timeline following Lewis from birth to his passing in 2020. There are also sources for many significant quotes from Lewis.
“Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis” will be a book that will hold a special place on your bookshelf.