African American Literature

While taking a class on diverse children's literature, I am definitely most interested in the African American section. We learned in class a couple weeks ago that the African American children's literature is now in the third generation of authors/illustrations. We also discussed that this is a controversial content, but it is still being explored. Some of the authors of this literature are Bishop, Harris, Smitherman, Grimes, Myers, Lester, Hamilton, and Woodson. During class, I really enjoyed the opportunity to take a look at some of these author's as well as some others work first hand. I was amazed at the illustrations because of how realistic they looked, but at the same time, the illustrators didn't use ordinary colors. Instead they used bright purples, greens, yellows, and oranges, which made the book look even more beautiful. All of the books really stood out to me, and I believe it is because I am an outsider of the African American literature, but I am very interested in learning about it more. All of these authors are insiders, and I really took this into consideration as a future teacher because of the authenticity of these books. I could tell by reading the stories that the authors could really relate to them, and I felt like they would be a great attribute to my classroom's library. Here are some of the books that I wrote down in my notebook that I am going to buy. I really think that other future teachers, or anyone for that matter should take a look at these books. I would say that my favorite is Walter Dean Myers and his books: I've Seen The Promised Land, Harlem, Blues Journey, Shooter, and Patrol. I also liked a book by Tom Feelings called The Middle Passage. Even though I was only able to skim through these books, I believe that these books would be a great diversity lesson for all students, as well as the history of African Americans.