Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids: 51 Inspiri… (2024)

*Very short* biographies. Norwood says, at the end of each bio, "explore more" and that's what this is good for - inspiration to explore further. Unfortunately there is no bibliography, and so I don't know from which work Sojourner Truth's quote about maintaining a sense of humor comes. I imagine the author assumes the reader can use the internet and the library to get more information.

In fact, I believe that she wrote the bios so briefly to raise, in the reader, more questions than each answered, especially to inspire the reader to be curious, to seek the answers, and to become more interested in history & research.

Anyway, it'd be also good for finding names for a black baby. I like Nzinga for a girl.

I appreciate that the book features people who did amazing things in a variety of fields, from athletics and entertainment to science medicine, business, activism, and politics. I especially appreciate that I knew many of subjects, because of course Tubman, King, and Obama must be included, but that there were a lot that I'd never heard of.

Rebecca Lee Crumpler is one of the names unfamiliar to me that I think should be much more famous, for example.

I am appalled and intrigued to learn that Mary McLeod Bethune was rejected as a missionary candidate to Africa because she's black. Racism sure does enable some bizarre attitudes & policies....

And a couple of quotations that I especially liked:

Sojourner Truth said, "Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me."

And Ernest Just said, "We feel the beauty of Nature because we are part of Nature and because we know that however much in our separate domains we abstract from the unity of Nature, this unity remains."

In short, if you're interested in this, do take a look at your library's copy. If they don't have it, suggest that they purchase it. Middle School libraries should definitely have a copy. Maybe especially if they don't have a lot of 'minority' or 'diverse' students in the school.

I received a free, advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. :)

"Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids" was a wonderful read! I loved learning about these encouraging, persevering, and strong figures in history. There were a few non-Americans, which was nice to get a slightly more worldview of powerful historical figures, but the majority of stories are United States born people and their influence upon American culture. My personal favorites were reading and engaging with the biographies of Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Katherine Johnson, and many more!

The digital copy has each page bursting with color. Each person in the book has a four-page spread. The first page is a beautiful illustration of the person (I need poster versions of them all, please and thank you!). Several paragraphs over the course of two pages summarize and highlight important events of the individual's life. Since the book is directed towards kids, the events of the people's lives aren't gone into detail, but it does provide a general understanding of what the person went through and achieved. The last page dedicated to the person is one of my favorites: a quote from the person and then a "Explore More" feature where the reader can further engage with the individual and suggested resources to continue the learning. The last few pages of the book are dedicated to other influential people with a quick, one-line description of their accomplishments.

The entire book -the highlighted 51 heroes or the several additional dozen mentions- would be a great resource and launching point for research for students in all grade levels. The reading level and wording of the text is geared towards upper elementary; probably 3rd-6th graders could read this independently without trouble and with high comprehension. However, it would make a great 5-minute read aloud for any aged child or learner.

I highly recommend this book for any and all people. It is a quick, but informative and still engaging read about true heroes who their lives to causes bigger than themselves. I already have pre-ordered it and am looking forward to adding it to my classroom library.

Our plan had been to read this all year, but we had a lot of little driving trips that gave us extra listening time this fall and the girls often asked for this. It was a nice over view of men and women from around the world, but mostly from the US. We actually knew most of the people within, but we have been very proactive since J moved in 6 years ago to expose her to a variety of men and women from various backgrounds, including her own. 🥰

Copyright Year: 2020
Theme(s): Black America, history, Africa, Heroes, Important Figures

This reference book details the lives and legacies of 51 important Black men and women throughout history as it relates to United States history. I would use this book as a resource for students to complete a biography project throughout the week for social studies. This book highlights several Black women which ties into my topic of women of color from and in North America. This would be a historical reference for students to access. I could also photocopy chapters so students could access the information without taking the whole book out of circulation for the rest of the classroom.

After reading Bedtime Stories: 50 amazing Black people who changed the world, I was very interested in this one. Although there are several duplications between the two, this one has many more new inspiring people, including British ones.

Despite encountering obstacles and adversity, these extraordinary figures from the past and present preserved in what they wanted to achieve and made history.

They include, amongs many others of course: Hatsheput (the longest-ruling and most successful female pharaoh), Mansa Musa (a prominent and weslthy ruler of Mali in the 13th to 14th century), Ignatius Sancho (a British composer and writer), Richard Allen (a minister, abolitionist, educator and writer in Pennsylvania), William Cuffay (a politician, political activist and a champion for workers' rights in Britain), Mary Seacole (a British Jamaican nurse who served during the Crimean War), Carter G Woodson (a scholar, historian and journalist who founded Black History Month and is known as the "Father of Black History").

This book was clearly written for older children/teen-agers than the one I read on Saturday. It certainly had more information and provided details of how to know more about each person. It was well written and at the end provided with the names and some brief information about some other inspiring Black people.

As for the other book, I really liked the quotation for each person, eg:
* "The colour of the skin is in no way connected with the strength of the mind or intellectual powers" - Benjamin Banneker.

* "The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic but to end the injustice" - Paul Robeson

* "I'm not concerned about your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being" - Jackie Robinson

Like the other book, this one inspires the reader to respect one another, to believe in themselves and their capabilities and also to persevere in reaching their goals.

The book "Black Heroes" is about black people who kind of went through a lot but still ended up being Heroes. I heard of Barak Obama who was in the book and maybe one other person who was in the book. I think it was good to learn about all these people because it was good to learn about black history and to learn about racism so you don't become a racist and its also good to know how it can affect people. I would recommend this book for people who want to know about racism so they can know how to stop it, or if you were in a school with people who were racist or one of your friends is black so you can have more empathy for people who are getting bullied.

Black Heroes by Arlisha Norwood is a wonderful book for children, especially if they need to do a Black History Month project. It covers amazing people from ancient Africa to modern-day U.S.A. There are colorful full-page pictures of each person, two pages of information, and an inspiring quotation. There is also a sentence or two where more information on the person can be found. I recommend this book, especially for elementary and middle school children. Adults can learn from it as well.

I work as a paraprofessional at an elementary school in Central FL. This book is a perfect addition to our library because it has excellent illustrations and descriptive yet straightforward details about each person selected. I've also noticed that the focus during BHM is almost always on MLK, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and maybe Jackie Robinson, and Nelson Mandela. I appreciate being able to inform our students about many more African-American heroes who have made substantial contributions throughout history.

I love the author’s selection of historical figures throughout Black Heroes. I learned some new ones. she includes links and recommendations for further reading, as well as a list of additional heroes at the end. overall I’m amazed by how well this books takes complex information and makes it accessible- really important work. I’d recommend Black Heroes for readers of all ages!

Good Intro

This book is a short introduction to historical Black personalities. Let's call the illustrations fair but for young readers that won't matter. The end of most of the bios point to a source of more information. A couple of people that aren't U.S. citizens or the regular figures.

Short biographies that serve as a good introduction to some Black heroes. Most, although not all, are American, and it does a good job in particular with introducing lesser-known Black heroes from history. These are just intros, and although the author does offer some guidance on where to go for more information, a complete bibliography would have been helpful.

A good introduction

Black Heroes was a good introduction, however reading with a British lens, of African descent, the book was quite American centred.
I believe as we are all of the diaspora that introducing children to more people from across the Diaspora is needed. I look forward to further volumes.

After reading her book, I am going to have my book club read this book!

I belong to a book club of adult women. I think my book club members will enjoy this read as much as I did and share it with others. :)

I bought this book as a gift for my 11 year old nephew. I read it before I gave it to him. It is age appropriate reading for him. Includes so many black heroes. I learned so new stuff myself. I like the way the book encourages the reader to explore more.

I loved it. I sat and consumed the entire treat in one gulp.
This would be a good bedtime read with your child. One a night or one a week and "let's find out more tomorrow when we go to the library." Also good for reading time in an elementary class.

Touches on some little known heroes- mostly 1.5 page summaries. Better for elementary? Colorful illustrations and pages.

this is good

Great reference book of inspiring Black heroes. Meant for kids but can also serve as a teaching tool for teenagers and adults alike

wonderful

What a wonderful book I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about African-Americans. And I want more books just like this to read

The was a great overview of what God allows people of color to do.