Queen of the Track: Alice Coachman, Olympic High-Jump Champion by Heather Lang and illustrated by Floyd Cooper was our read-aloud choice for the children who attended our Black History Month session at the Allston Brighton CDC. This inspirational nonfiction book is a story of perseverance and unwavering ambition. The children had so many great questions about the history of the Olympics. 22 kids came out to help us celebrate Black History Month with a read-aloud and design their own Frisbee.
A special thanks to MIT Sloan School of Management for its annual book donation. Students and employees of MIT Sloan collected over 150 books for ReadBoston. The books donated will help us in our work to end book deserts in Boston.
Did you know that the Boston Tax Help Coalition offers free tax preparation at over 30 locations in the city of Boston? With tax season underway, we have provided ReadBoston lending libraries to several Boston Tax Help Coalition sites. Our lending libraries provide families a wonderfully diverse selection of children’s books to share while visiting tax sites.
In celebration of Black History Month we had an African American Read-In event with the Kindergarten scholars of Mission Hill Grammar school. Martin & Mahalia His Words, Her Song by Andrea Davis and Brian Pinkney recounts the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahalia Davis, culminating on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
The Boston Celtics invited the scholars of the Edward Everett School in Dorchester to a Black History Month themed Read To Achieve event at the Auerbach Center. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown read Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race and helped students design a flag to represent their dreams of the future.
Our
February Daddy & Me session was highlighted by the book “Look What Brown
Can Do” written by T. Marie Harris and illustrated by Neda Ivanova. The story
was a perfect conversation
tool for parents that want to help their children understand the greatness that
can be achieved by those who look like them. Our February session also
had 4 new dads in attendance. It wonderful to see the program grow!
The Hale Elementary School invited us to share our love for early literacy with students and author/illustrator Oge Mora. Thank You, Omu! is a 2019 Caldecott Honor Book and the winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award. The students learned how her Mora’s Nigerian heritage influences her writing. Ms.Mora provided each student with a signed copy of Thank You, Omu!
During February school break we hosted an African American Read-In at the Concord Housing Community Center. 12 Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora was our shared story. The children were eager to know where the King’s daughters went each night. After the story, the children designed their own plush hearts.
We celebrated Black History Month at the Carter School by sharing the story of Abiyoyo. A wonderful South African adapted tale was written by Pete Seeger and illustrated by Michael Hays. A father with a magic wand and his son who loves to play his ukulele are banished from town because of the mischief they cause. When a monster comes to threaten the town, the father and son return as heroes to save the day. The Carter students really enjoyed it when Sean began to sing Abiyoyo from his knees!
