February 2019 MahoganyBooks Children’s Bestsellers
#1 – Princess Hair by Sharee Miller
Now available in paperback, debut author-illustrator Sharee Miller celebrates black hair of different shapes, textures, and styles in this self-affirming picture book.
Princesses with head wraps take long naps. Princesses with curls wear pearls. And princesses with teeny-weeny afros wear teeny-weeny bows.
Debut author-illustrator Sharee Miller’s picture book celebrates different shapes, textures, and styles of black hair, from dreadlocks, to blowouts, to braids (and more!), shining a spotlight on the beauty and diversity of black hair with playful, colorful illustrations and an endearing text with great read-aloud quality.
#2 – I’m A Brilliant Little Black Boy! by Joshua Drummond
Finally a gloriously designed and joyful, colorful picture book to celebrate our little Black boys with LOVE!
Meet our newest character, Joshua! He is a little boy who has big dreams and ideas as BRILLIANT as the stars! With all of his good friends, Joshua’s days are filled with adventures where books, a telescope, a red-superhero cape, rhyming hip-hop verse, twinkling fireflies that light up the magical summer skies above a card board fort in the park― and so much more ― is just what boyhood innocence and imagination is all about.
Kind, smart, creative and always thinking― Joshua learns that through studying, good deeds, working hard and aiming to be brilliant . . . we can really shine!
#3 – I’m A Pretty Little Black Girl! by Betty K. Bynum
In this first book in Bynum’s planned I’m a Girl Collection, heroine Mia isn’t lacking in self-esteem: “When I see myself in the mirror, I twirl,/ And I yell, ‘I’m a pretty little black girl!’
I’M A PRETTY LITTLE BLACK GIRL! introduces adorable Mia, who wakes with her hair “just-a-going every which-a-ways!” With her abundant energy and joy leading the way, readers follow Mia as she plays with her friends who are all shades, shapes and sizes.
There’s tall Kia, Keisha the reader, Charlotte her best friend, Dina Rose-Marie the artist, Imani the dancer, Anna who loves sports, Ruby the singer, and honey-haired Tracy.
Mia finds that “Pretty” is within herself and her friends, and being pretty is way beyond what the mirror shows.
#4 – Spider-Man: Meet The New Spider-Man by Rory Keane
Miles Morales is just a regular kid from Brooklyn, until a spider bites him and gives him amazing powers! Could he really be the new Spider-Man?
Based on the critically-acclaimed film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this leveled reader introduces Miles Morales as he juggles his normal high school life with the infinite possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask.
Passport to Reading: Featuring a winning combination of favorite licensed characters and carefully controlled text–reading along or reading alone just got more fun with Passport to Reading! All books include a parent letter, word count, Guided Reading level, and number of sight words.
Level 2: Reading out Loud: encourages developing readers to sound out loud, includes more complex stories with simple vocabulary.
#5 – Don’t Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller
An entertaining picture book that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair.
It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, she’s chased by a mermaid, monkeys, and poked by aliens…until, finally, Aria has had enough!
Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a new, fresh, level as she doesn’t seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful–she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story.
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