ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 16th February 2018 - "Young Gifted and Black" by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins (Wide Eyed Editions)

This one has been on our "Watch" list ever since we found out about it...and we're delighted to make this a Book of the Week for so many reasons...
Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins' fantastic "Young, Gifted and Black" chronicles the lives and history of 52 black heroes from past and present.

That's no slim claim, this is - without a doubt - the sort of book we'd wave in people's faces if they wanted examples of how children's books are championing diversity and inclusion and I think this is probably the first time we've been lucky enough to see a non-fiction title entirely devoted to black history from front to back.

History is, of course, our thing. Jamia writes about key historical figures such as Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks with passion and authority, but it's also fantastic to see contemporary figures brought forward in this book too.

The Williams Sisters (Venus and Serena) are in here. Stevie Wonder is in here. Beyonce and Solange Knowles. Giving children figures they'll readily be able to identify as well as hugely important black history notaries is such a fantastic idea.

Andrea Pippins' art is glorious too, all figures are instantly recognisable and the sheer amount of facts and interesting snippets of information about each person means that this is a fantastic title for a huge range of ages.

We've often said that Wide Eyed Editions are doing some incredible things to reinvent and shake up non-fic for kids, and this title really is one of their best releases to date.

"Young Gifted and Black" by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins is out now, published by Wide Eyed Editions (kindly supplied for review).