The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Award Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that reflect the African American experience. Awards are given both to authors and to illustrators.
Patricia C. McKissack was a prolific African American children's writer. She was the author of over 100 books, including Dear America books A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl;Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North; and Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl. She also wrote a novel for The Royal Diaries series: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Notable standalone works include Flossie & the Fox (1986), The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (1992), and Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? (1992). What is Given from the Heart was published posthumously in 2019.
Elijah of Buxton is a 2007 children's novel by Christopher Paul Curtis. The book won critical praise and was a Newbery Honor book and the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It also was a children's book bestseller.
Fredrick Lemuel "Fred" McKissack, Sr. was an African-American writer, best known for collaboration with his wife, Patricia C. McKissack on more than 100 children's books about the history of African Americans.
Mirandy and Brother Wind is a 1988 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a girl, Mirandy, who attempts to catch the wind so he will be her partner for the upcoming junior cakewalk.
Goin' Someplace Special is a 2001 children's book by Pat McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a young African American girl, Tricia Ann, who goes to the public library by herself during the time of the Jim Crow laws.
Half a Moon and One Whole Star is a 1986 book by Crescent Dragonwagon and illustrator Jerry Pinkney about a girl, Susan, who falls asleep in her bed, while the world continues outside.
Flossie & the Fox is a 1986 picture book by Patricia C. McKissack about a girl, Flossie, who takes some eggs to a neighbor, meets a fox on the way and manages to outwit it. In 1991, a film adaptation of the book was made with the author narrating.
God Bless the Child is a 2003 picture book by Jerry Pinkney with the words and music of Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. It is about an African-American family moving from the rural Deep South to urban Chicago during the Great Migration.
Where Crocodiles have Wings is a 2005 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Bob Barner. It is a rhyming story where imaginative animals occur.
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? is a 1992 children's biography by Patricia and Frederick McKissack. It tells the story of African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth.
A Million Fish ... more or less is a 1992 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack. It is about a boy of the bayou, Hugh Thomas, who has a fishing adventure.
Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II is a 1995 Children's picture book by Patricia and Frederick McKissack. It is about the African Americans of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the USAF who were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters is a 1994 children's book by Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack. It is about the preparations and workings around the Christmas season on a slave plantation in 1850s Virginia.
The Moon over Star is a 2008 picture book by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a girl, Mae, who, with her family, follows the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers is a 1999 book by Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack about the involvement of African-Americans in the history of whaling in the United States.
Days Of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States is a 2002 book by Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack which sets out the history of Abolitionism in the United States.
A Friendship for Today is a 2007 book by Patricia McKissack about the life of a girl, Rosemary Patterson, attending one of the first integrated Missouri schools during the 1950s.
Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts is a 1996 book by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack.
Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs & Stories From An African American Childhood is a 2017 book by Patricia McKissack. It is a collection of games, songs, proverbs, stories including those from McKissack's childhood.
