From Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney comes an extraordinary must-have collection of classic playtime favorites.
This very special book is sure to become a treasured keepsake for African American families and will inspire joy in all who read it.
Parents and grandparents will delight in sharing this exuberant book with the children in their lives. Here is a songbook, a storybook, a poetry collection, and much more, all rolled into one. Find a partner for hand claps such as “Eenie, Meenie, Sassafreeny,” or form a circle for games like “Little Sally Walker.” Gather as a family to sing well-loved songs like “Amazing Grace” and “Oh, Freedom,” or to read aloud the poetry of such African American luminaries as Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. And snuggle down to enjoy classic stories retold by the author, including Aesop’s fables and tales featuring Br’er Rabbit and Anansi the Spider.
“A rich compilation to stand beside Rollins’s Christmas Gif’ and Hamilton’s The People Could Fly.” —The Horn Book
“An ebullient collection…. There is an undeniable warmth and sense of belonging to these tales.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
Author
Patricia C. McKissack
PATRICIA MCKISSACK is one of the most acclaimed authors writing for children today. She has written many award-winning books, including Never Forgotten, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; Porch Lies, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book; The Dark Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book; Let My People Go, recipient of the NAACP Image Award; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, a Caldecott Honor Book. Her other books include The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, Goin’ Someplace Special, and Precious and the Boo Hag. Patricia and her husband, Frederick McKissack, are the recipients of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.LEO and DIANE DILLON have illustrated over 60 books for children and have received just about every honor and award imaginable. They are the winners of two Caldecott Medals (Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears and Ashanti to Zulu), five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards (including one for the Knopf book, The People Could Fly), and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards.
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Brian Pinkney
Brian Pinkney has illustrated numerous picture books, including The Dark-Thirty; Hip-Hop Lollipop; Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing, & Shout; Dance, Spin, & Turn It Out; and In the Time of the Drums. His many awards include two Caldecott Honors, a Coretta Scott King Illustration Award, four Coretta Scott King Illustration Honors, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Brian lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and frequent collaborator, Andrea Davis Pinkney.
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