Ashley Bryan

Imagine being looked up and down and being valued as less than a chair. Less than an ox. Less than a dress. Maybe about the same as... a lantern. You, an object. An object to sell. Ashley Bryan goes to the heart of how a slave is given a monetary value by the slave owner, tempering this with the one thing that CAN'T be bought or sold -- dreams. Inspired by the actual will of a plantation owner that lists the worth of each and every one of his "workers",...

This book details artist Ashley Bryan's experiences as a Black soldier in the segregated army of WWII-- "From celebrated author and illustrator Ashley Bryan comes a deeply moving picture book memoir about serving in the segregated army during World War II, and how love and the pursuit of art sustained him. In May of 1942, at the age of eighteen, Ashley Bryan was drafted to fight in World War II. For the next three years, he would face the horrors...

In a story of the Ila people, the colorful birds of Africa ask Blackbird, whom they think is the most beautiful of birds, to decorate them with some of his "blackening brew."

In this retelling of a West African tale, Ma Sheep Thunder and her impetuous son Ram Lightning are forced to leave their home on Earth because of the trouble Ram causes.

An illustrated version of the song written by civil rights leader and poet James Weldon Johnson in 1899 that has come to be considered the African American national anthem.

Illustrated versions of three well-known hymns.