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REGISTER FOR SCBWI UNIVERSITY

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SCBWI Member Videos: How to Apply for Awards and Grants

2024

Illinois

Lift As You Climb

Long before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, Ella Baker worked to lift others up by fighting racial injustice and empowering poor African Americans to stand up for their rights. Her dedication and grassroots work in many communities made her a valuable ally for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement. In the 1960s she worked to register voters and organize sit-ins, and she became a teacher and mentor to many young activists. For Ella, the spotlight wasn’t as important as asking the people around her: “What do you hope to accomplish?”Edit

Lift As You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker

This is the true story of Lil Hardin Armstrong: pianist, composer, and bandleader in the early days of jazz. Ahead of her time, Lil made a career for herself--and for Louis Armstrong, her modest, unassuming husband. Louis might never have become the groundbreaking jazz player he was, if it hadn't been for Lil. Scat-inspired verse celebrates how Lil overcame race and gender barriers to become the first lady of the Chicago jazz scene.

Struttin' With Some Barbecue: Lil Hardin Armstrong Becomes the First Lady of Jazz

From acclaimed author Patricia Hruby Powell comes the story of a landmark civil rights case, told in spare and gorgeous verse. In 1955, in Caroline County, Virginia, amidst segregation and prejudice, injustice and cruelty, two teenagers fell in love. Their life together broke the law, but their determination would change it. Richard and Mildred Loving were at the heart of a Supreme Court case that legalized marriage between races, and a story of the devoted couple who faced discrimination, fought it, and won.

Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case

A collection of 14 folk tales about flowers from around the world, 
including European, Asian, Pacific, African, North and South American 
tales.

Blossom Tales: Flower Stories of Many Folk

When the Navajos crops fail yet again, the boy Red Bird is sent to 
ask Spider Woman for her help.  His journey leads him to a flock of 
sun-yellow birds, a lizard, a Gila monster, and a snake.To each of the animals, Red Bird asks the same question: Could you tell me where Spider Woman lives?At last, after traveling in each of the four directions, Red Bird finds Spider Woman sitting in her web.  Will she help him?Red
 Birds quest to save his people will serve as an inspiration to all 
readers with responsibilities that sometimes seem impossible to fulfill. 

Zinnia: How the Corn Was Saved

As fire creeps toward the village of the First People, First Man and 
First Woman must find a way to quench the flames. First Woman asks the 
Bird People, the River People, and the Water People for assistance, but 
everyone she speaks to has an excuse. “Not me,” said Mockingbird. “The 
smoke would hurt my voice and I would never sing again.” “Not me,” said 
Snail. “I carry my house with me and I am slow.” “No,” said Beaver. 
“We’d like to help, but our river home would become a desert if we 
changed the flow of water.”  At last, First Woman asks the mysterious 
Frog for help. Will he be able to stop the flames before they reach the 
village?  Author Patricia Hruby Powell’s retelling of this Navajo 
folktale is as graceful as it is compelling, and as magical as the 
mythical time it describes. Enter the village of the First People … and 
become a part of the time when the world was new.

Frog Brings Rain

In exuberant verse and stirring pictures, Patricia Hruby Powell and 
Christian Robinson create an extraordinary portrait of the passionate 
performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who 
worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the
 world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's 
powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a 
spectacle, just like the legend herself.Josephine is the winner of a Boston Globe Horn Book Nonfiction Honor 2014; International Bologna Ragazzi Nonfiction Honor 2014; Parents Choice Gold for Poetry 2014; Robert F.Sibert Honor 2015; Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor 2015.

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

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