New Picture Books for African American History Month

Meg goes to Maker School to hone her talent for building with boxes -- but when Simone, another boxitect, arrives -- they become so competitive they nearly fail in the annual Maker Match.

Biography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. Shares the story of the pioneering African American mathematician, Katherine Johnson, who helped calculate America's first manned flight into space, its first manned orbit of Earth, and the world's first trip to the moon.

Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider.

Tyrannosaurus Rex enthusiast Sal transforms herself into an uncontrollable T. Rex, partly because her brother said it would be impossible, but soon discovers the downsides of always being fierce.

An elementary school girl witnesses the bullying of another girl, but she is not sure how to help.

When young Mae Jemison is asked by her teacher what she wants to be when she grows up, African American Mae tells her mostly white classmates that she wants to be an astronaut, a dream that her parents wholeheartedly support.

When her little sister, Akeer, becomes sick when they are returning home from the water hole, Nya must carry her and the water back to their village, one step at a time.

"This book is based on the viral photograph of African American toddler Parker Curry, who, during a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, became mesmerized by Amy Sherald's portrait of Michelle Obama, who she thought was a queen. One rainy afternoon, Parker's mother (co-author Jessica Curry) makes the suggestion that they visit the museum, little sister Ava in tow. At the museum, they see Parker's friend Gia and her mother. The three girls dance...

In this version of Sleeping Beauty, told in verse, the Princess is threatened with a curse which will start with a paper cut; devastated that all her books have been taken away, she sets out with her dog, Prince, to find the fairy who cast the curse and make her reverse it.

When all of their special Saturday plans go awry, Ava and her mother still find a way to appreciate one another and their time together.