Book picks similar to
The Creation by James Weldon Johnson


poetry
picture-books
african-american
religion

The House in the Night


Susan Marie Swanson - 2008
    Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers - a key, a bed, the moon - this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.

Curious George


H.A. Rey - 1941
    Though well meaning, George's curiosity always gets him into trouble. Young readers can easily relate, and Rey's cheerful illustrations celebrate Curious George's innocence.

Rain School


James Rumford - 2010
    Children are filling the road. "Will they give us a notebook?" Thomas asks. "Will they give us a pencil?""Will I learn to read?"But when he and the other children arrive at the schoolyard, they find no classroom, no desks. Just a teacher. "We will build our school," she says. "This is our first lesson."James Rumford, who lived in Chad as a Peace Corps volunteer, fills these pages with vibrant ink-and-pastel colors of Africa and the spare words of a poet to show how important learning is in a country where only a few children are able to go to school.

Milo's Hat Trick


Jon Agee - 2001
    Maybe pulling a very clever bear out of a hat can save Milo and his act. Illustrations.

A Leaf Can Be...


Laura Purdie Salas - 2012
    . .Shade spillerMouth fillerTree topperRain stopperFind out about the many roles leaves play in this poetic exploration of leaves throughout the year.

A Little Book of Sloth


Lucy Cooke - 2013
    You’ll fall in love with bad-boy Mateo, ooh and ahh over baby Biscuit, and want to wrap your arms around champion cuddle buddy Ubu!From British filmmaker and sloth expert Lucy Cooke comes a hilarious, heart-melting photographic picture book starring the laziest—and one of the cutest—animals on the planet.

Mixed Me!


Taye Diggs - 2015
    He has LOTS of energy! His parents love him. And Mike is a PERFECT blend of the two of them.Still, Mike has to answer LOTS of questions about being mixed. And he does, with LOTS of energy and joy in this charming story about a day in the life of a mixed-race child.

A Visitor for Bear


Bonny Becker - 2008
    He even has a sign. So when a mouse taps on his door one day, Bear tells him to leave. But when Bear goes to the cupboard to get a bowl, there is the mouse -- small and gray and bright-eyed. In this slapstick tale that begs to be read aloud, all Bear wants is to eat his breakfast in peace, but the mouse -- who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places -- just won't go away!

Truman


Jean Reidy - 2019
    He never worries about the world below…until one day, when Sarah straps on a big backpack and does something Truman has never seen before. She boards the bus! Truman waits for her to return. He waits. And waits. And waits. And when he can wait no longer, he knows what he must do. Even if it seems…impossible!

The Crayon Box That Talked


Shane DeRolf - 1997
    The crayons in it just couldn't get along. Yellow did not like Red, and neither, for that matter, did Green. And no one at all seemed to like Orange. As Blue pointed out, something was very wrong.But something very right begins to happen when a little girl takes these crayons home and starts coloring with them. They realize that the big picture they make together is ever so much more exciting and varied—yes, even dazzling!—than the small pictures they make alone.This is a simple little story with a big important message.

A Chair for My Mother


Vera B. Williams - 1982
    After their home is destroyed by a fire, Rosa, her mother and grandmother save their coins to buy a really comfortable chair for all to enjoy.

They Say Blue


Jillian Tamaki - 2018
    They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know — she hasn’t seen one.Stunningly beautiful illustrations flow from one spread to the next, as time passes and the imagination takes hold. The world is full of colour, and mystery too, in this first picture book from a highly acclaimed artist.

Ideas Are All Around


Philip C. Stead - 2016
    Wednesday chases squirrels while the two friends discuss fishing and war and how back before the neighborhood was there enormous woolly mammoths roamed where houses now sit.Thoughts open up to other thoughts, and ideas are born and carried forward, often transforming into other ideas until he finds that ideas really are all around, you just have to know what to do with them.

The Black Book of Colors


Menena Cottin - 2006
    This groundbreaking, award-winning book endeavors to convey the experience of a person who can only see through his or her sense of touch, taste, smell or hearing.Raised black line drawings on black paper, which can be deciphered by touch, complement a beautifully written text describing colors through imagery. Braille letters accompany the text so that the sighted reader can begin to imagine what it is like to use Braille to read. A full Braille alphabet at the end of the book can be used to learn more.

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!


Elise Parsley - 2015
    Now it's up to Magnolia to find a way to send this troublemaker home--but what could possibly scare an alligator away?