MAMA'S LIBRARY SUMMERS

Young bibliophiles delight in their library visits.

Two African American siblings dressed in blue shorts and striped shirts go to the library each week in the summer to pick 10 books. “Only books about Black people…no repeats,” Mama says, and “No more than three books on the same subject!” the white librarian says. After painstakingly choosing, the children haul their huge piles to the car where Mama waits, hot but too shy to enter. At home, everyone grabs a book and settles down: the narrator on the bed, the younger sister on the floor, and Mama in her chair. Absorbing Black history, the protagonist is transported: escaping slavery with Harriet Tubman, protesting at the March on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr., and reciting poetry alongside Paul Laurence Dunbar. The exquisite collage work by Peoples brims with highly saturated colors and rich textures and demonstrates the immersive power of literature. Book review competitions between the siblings follow; the winner earns “an extra slice of Mama’s homemade sweet potato pie.” Archival images of Black heroes appear throughout the book—some well known, others that will beckon readers to learn more. In the backmatter, Noel and Peoples share stories of how they became passionate readers.

A sumptuous story of summertime Black joy, and a master class in fostering family literacy.