Drawing Black History: 4 Children's Book Illustrators Show Us How

Whether read at school or before bedtime, children’s picture books are a vivid way to teach history. They are particularly useful in February, during Black History Month.

As part of our “Live Art” series on Facebook, we talked to the creators of four children’s books that depict forgotten figures from black history or find new meaning in familiar ones.

What are your favorite picture books for sharing black history with your child? Let us know in the comments.

‘Freedom in Congo Square’

By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2017.

R. Gregory Christie: When you’re dealing with slavery as the subject matter, obviously you want to get that information into schools, but on the other hand, you want to make sure it’s handled responsibly.

When I was first approached about doing the book, I thought, “A nursery rhyme for children about slavery?” I didn’t know if that could be done properly. But Carole really came through with her words.

Maria Russo: It’s such a serious subject. This is a book about slavery, but the art is so playful and full of joy, too. It’s hard for authors and illustrators to find a way to tell children about the extreme cruelty and terror of life under slavery. You and Carole really found a way with this story of Congo Square in New Orleans, where slaves in Louisiana found their own small measure of freedom on Sundays.

Christie: My mother grew up in a small town called New Roads, Louisiana, and I spent most of my summers down there. It really stuck with me how much people there loved to dance and party.

Sometimes you think things are just the way they’ve always been, but everything has a root. This book was an opportunity to talk about Louisiana’s unique cultural history.

I make the books that I wish I had when I was a kid. It’s important to learn about the history of George Washington, but it’s also important to learn about Toussaint L’Ouverture. Anytime I can do a book that is going to balance out the curriculum, that’s what I jump at.

A lot of people know New Orleans, but they don’t know about Congo Square.

‘The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist’

By Cynthia Levinson. Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. 2017.

Russo: Audrey Faye Hendricks participated in the children’s march in 1963 and she actually ended up being put in jail. The City of Birmingham put 100 children in jail.

Vanessa Brantley Newton: For marching for civil rights.

Most of the students that were marching were in high school or college. Audrey was 9 years old. I thought, How brave.

I don’t know an adult who would have said, Yes, I’m willing to be taken to jail, but Audrey was. It was important to her to play a part.

I want little children to walk away from the book thinking, I can do something, too. No matter how small I am, there is something I can do.

There weren’t a lot of photos of Audrey as a girl. We could only find one of her. She had her little hair in pigtails and bangs. That’s how my mom would dress me when I was a kid, so I felt like I immediately understood. I get this hairdo. This little girl, I get her.

She reminds me so much of myself that drawing her came very easily.

Russo: And the author is Cynthia Levinson, who is a fantastic historian for children. She writes for children, but I learn from her books. Every one of them teaches me, too.

‘Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went From the Football Field to the Art Gallery’

By Sandra Neil Wallace. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2018.

Russo: This is one of those books that come around for Black History Month and bring to life a black person from history that a lot of people might not have heard about.

Bryan Collier: They know them, but they just didn’t realize they know them.

What’s unique about Ernie’s work is that he elongates the figures and they are always in motion. The eyes are closed because, as he said, “That’s our blindness to each other’s humanity.”

Russo: One of the most memorable pages in the book is when he goes to an art museum as a child and he wonders why there are no black artists there.

Collier: That’s the artist in him. He already knows there’s more to the world than what is being shown. He asks the museum guide, “Where are the black painters?” And she crushes him. She says, “Your people don’t express themselves like that.”

But he knows there’s art inside of him. These beginnings are so magical in a way.

‘Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You’

By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by James Ransome. 2018.

Carole Boston Weatherford: I wanted to do something about King that was not biographical, but more inspirational, that would inspire kids to serve and to follow King’s example of activism and service. This text shows what kids can do in their lives to be like King, hence the title, “Be a King.”

James E. Ransome: I was a child when King was alive and throughout the movement. Listening to his words made me want to be a better person, and that’s what this book is about.

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