- Feb 5
A True Story of the Black Woman
Battalion of World War II
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Harper
(HarperCollins)
(pub. 10.7.2025)
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Tonya Abari
Illustrator: Lance Evans
Characters: The Black Woman Battalion of WWII
Overview:
"In 1944, the United States was facing a unique wartime crisis—too much mail! Millions of letters and packages, stacked from floor to ceiling, sat unsent in cold, dark warehouses, with no one to sort through the backlog and no way to deliver mail to the troops.
Enter the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Formed of Black women who had advocated fiercely for their right to enlist in the U.S. military, the “Six Triple Eight” battalion had one special task: sort and send the mail. It wasn’t easy, but the Six Triple Eight got to work!
Putting in long hours to send out each piece of mail in record time, they had a four-word motto that powered them through: “No mail, low morale!” As they helped deliver support to the soldiers on the frontlines, these women proved there was nothing they couldn’t do!
Tantalizing taste:
"There was mail everywhere! Bags of letters filled hangars and were piled from the floor to the ceiling. The mail room was cold, damp, and poorly lit. Could they get through this backlog in only six months?
The mighty battalion was determined. They wore layers of clothes beneath their uniforms and worked long hours, rotating three eight-hour shifts per day. An average of sixty-five thousand pieces of mail were processed each shift using special locator cards, unit numbers, and serial numbers.
The Six Triple Eight developed a motto to stay motivated: No mail, low morale. There was nothing that they couldn't do!"
And something more: The author, Tonya Abari, shares in a Dear Reader letter: "Although the topic of war is very complex, I wrote this book because I wanted to honor the brave women of the Six Triple Eight. I also did not want this vital part of history to be overlooked. The lasting impact of these women's contributions has ushered in significant strides for Black women and girls in the military and civilian life."
- Feb 5
Toni Morrison's Life in Stories
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Little, Brown Books for Readers
(pub. 1.7.2025)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrator: Daniel Minter
Character: Toni Morrison
Overview:
" From imaginative child to visionary storyteller, Toni Morrison was a fiercely inspiring writer that helped change the world. This poetic picture book is part love letter and part biography, praising the power of this Nobel Prize winner. With its tender refrain, readers will know how much Morrison's stories -- and their own -- mean to the world. She was loved -- and so are they!"
Tantalizing taste:
"Oh, Toni Morrison, do you feel it?
Your love has lifted us to places untouched.
You, born with a roar for stories that speak.
Your word-brush struck truth from the darkest soil.
Filled with seeds of possibility.
You, storyteller. Griot. Novelist.
Weaving tales drawn with dignity.
Beautiful roots springing from your tip's swirl.
You - a girl whose highest power began
with a stick of chalk, gripped in nimble fingers."
And something more: Andrea Davis Pinkney explains in How This Poem Came to Be: "And She Was Loved is drawn from a declaration made in Ms. Morrison's Song of Solomon. When Pilate, one of the novel's central characters, calls out, "And she was loved!" she's railing against a society that allows hatred of Black people to persist. At the same time, Pilates is pronouncing love's infinite power; thus, the echoed refrain that is whispered throughout this book's narrative – And she was loved… And she was loved… – is symbolic of Ms.Morrison's body of work."
- Feb 5
The Musical Friendship of
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Beach Lane Books
(Simon & Schuster)
(pub. 10.14.2025)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Rekha S. Rajan
Illustrator: Ken Daley
Characters: Ella Fitzgerald
and Louis Armstrong
Overview:
" Ella Fitzgerald loved to dance. When little Ella heard jazz music, the music notes moved her legs as she twirled around New York City. Way down south, Louis Armstrong loved to sing. When jazz music played, young Louis’s voice rumbled like a steam train in New Orleans. While Ella dreamed of dancing on stage and Louis of being a famous singer, it wasn’t until they switched things up that they became famous, Ella for singing and Louis playing the trumpet.
The two jazz musicians had heard of each other, but never had a chance to meet. Until one magical night when they took the stage together, the music started to swing, and a lifelong musical friendship was born."
Tantalizing taste:
"When Ella tossed a note with her voice, Louis grabbed it back with his trumpet.
The music would push and pull, push and pull.
Until the music note started to swing.…
Ella's voice told stories as Louis's music painted pictures. Ella loved singing solo, and Louis loved playing alone with his trumpet, but making music together felt just right.
Today, if you ride a train up to Harlem, New York, you'll feel the tracks snapping and swaying, just like Ella's voice.
When you ride a riverboat in New Orleans, Louisiana , you'll hear the wind carrying the toot-toot-toot of Louis's horn.
But no matter where you are, when you feel the melody jump - then glide down; when you hear the notes leap off the scale only to find their way back home again: that's the sound of Ella and Louis's music playing on."
And something more: Rekha S. Rajan shared in the Author's Note: "Ella and Louis... both rose to fame in the early 1900s in America, before the civil rights movement, when people were still separated because of their skin color. When Black people were not allowed to sing on certain stages... Eventually, though, when Ella and Louis made music, everyone came to listen... Ella and Louis sang together, danced together, and captivated audiences together, creating a new sound and new friendship."
