Young, Gifted and Black, Too by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins

🖤Superb non-fiction

🌟Young, Gifted and Black, Too
✒️Jamia Wilson @‌jamiaawilson
🎨Andrea Pippins @‌andreapippins
📚@‌wideeyededitions @‌quartokids kindly sent for review

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Young, Gifted and Black, Too

What a dazzling new book from the duo who gave the world Young, Gifted and Black back in 2018. It’s a non fiction collection of Black icons from the 1500s to present day – Young, Gifted and Black, Too.

It’s incredible to discover the history of people you may not have heard of before, I certainly hadn’t heard about lots of these people.

Great Layout

The book is laid out in chronological order. It’s a great way to organise, yet it’s more than that. It gives you a powerful glimpse into the plight/fight of Black people through history up to present day and what these icons have done individually. Each building on the foundations of their predecessors.

A More Accurate History

The language used in the book leaves you in no uncertainty of the suffering and racism that has been and is endured. Thinking back to when I read history books as a child I feel there was an over simplification and at times glorification of the role white people and certain countries played in world history. Books such as this are so important to ensure children get a true representation of the world.

Iconic Illustrations

The illustrations are iconic in themselves – I want to see them splashed across buildings in all their vivid beauty.

They’re bold and empowering and give you a glimpse into the life of the person through the graphics.

Yet again @‌wideeyededitions bring a book that should be on everyone’s bookshelves.

There are 52 different icons. You could devour this book in one like me or you could discover one life each week for a year and then go off and explore that person further.

Here’s a list of the 52 icons explored in Young, Gifted and Black, Too:

  • Juan Latino
  • Queen Nanny
  • Toussaint Louverture
  • Chevalier de Saint–Georges
  • Olaudah Equiano
  • Alexander Pushkin
  • Yaa Asantewaa
  • Moses and Calvin McKissack
  • Ann Lowe
  • Albert Luthuli
  • Charles Drew
  • Thurgood Marshall
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe
  • George Washington Gibbs Jr.
  • Jackie Robinson
  • Bertina Lopes
  • Frantz Fanon
  • Hans Massaquoi
  • Coretta Scott King
  • Mariama Ba
  • Gladys Mae West
  • Chinua Achebe
  • Alvin Ailey
  • Miriam Makeba
  • Annie Easley
  • Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
  • Fela Kuti
  • John Lewis
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Angela Davis
  • Bob Marley
  • Octavia Butler
  • Thomas Sankara
  • Iman
  • Prince
  • Ozwald Boateng
  • Marcus Samuelsson
  • Leymah Gbowee
  • Laverne Cox
  • Phoebe Robinson
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Michaela Coel
  • Colin Kaepernick
  • Kadeena Cox
  • Aisha Dee
  • Adenike Oladosu
  • Naomi Osaka
  • Amanda Gorman
  • Chloe x Halle
  • Ntando Mahlangu
  • Zaila Avant–garde
  • Mari Copeny

I’d recommend this book for children around 8 years + through into early teens.

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