It is very common for me to finish a book and then forget the details (and sometimes even the main plot) a few weeks after I’ve finished. I enjoy these books but nothing about them is powerful enough to stay with me. Then there are the books whose characters stay with me forever.
Lately, I find myself thinking back to a few picture books as I watch the news. Books that were so powerful, they have stuck with me for years. Sadly, I did not learn much history in school and did not love it as a young adult. But then as I collected books for my classroom library as an elementary teacher and school librarian, I learned so much from the picture books I read. It is interesting the ways picture books can build background knowledge, even at my age. I could learn just enough to learn what I didn’t know that I needed to learn and then I can move beyond that and dig deeper. Two picture books have been taking up lots of my thinking lately because they were powerful learning for me and they are very timeline today.
I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story by Martha Brockenbrough and Grace Lin is a story about the Supreme Court case that solidified birthright citizenship. This decision has guaranteed birthright citizenship since 1898.
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel tells the story of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her participation in the Capital Crawl when she was eight years old. This event was a critical step toward the American with Disabilities Act. Keelan-Chaffins has spent her life advocating for disability rights.
The third book that has been popping into my thoughts more often than usual is The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs. It is not a picture book but it is one of the books that helped me understand so much history that I had not learned. I listened to the audio book and it was incredible. (I noticed that Anna Malaika Tubbs has a new book coming out in May–which I will sure preorder!)
So today, in the midst of all that is happening in our country, I am so grateful for these authors who write these important stories that have stuck with me over time. Each one helped me begin to understand history and how so many people have fought over centuries for things that we take for granted now.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Aren’t picture books wonderful? They tell so much in the pictures, but even more in the wisely chosen limited number of words. I have so many I’ve collected through the years. You have inspired me to revisit those – and also look into what is new these days. Thanks!
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Thank you for sharing your experience with the books, and the book list. Though I am not American, these ideas can transcend into all places. The picture books look perfect. Thank you.
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The power of a picture book! You’re so right. I am like you… I read a lot of books in a year and although I enjoy them in the moment, I don’t remember all of the details about the story, but there are some books that just stick with you because they are so powerful. Your post reminded me of the title, Lillian’s Right to Vote. I’ve added The Three Mothers to my want to read list and I’m tucking your post “Books that stay with me” for inspiration for another day. Thanks for sharing!
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I, too, (at age 79 and three college degrees) find non-fiction and biography books for children an excellent INTRODUCTION to topics that capture my curiosity. I frequently choose to begin research with these books because many published today are simply outstanding in presentation. From there I can choose to invest time in a deeper dive. My pleasure reading passion is middle grade realistic fiction. Like you, too many I have read recently and thoroughly enjoyed at the time have not remained in my mind. I blame this on too much worry about our current politics. You have motivated me to take a look at THE THREE MOTHERS because I remember how deeply I was affected by Michelle Obama’s writing about her own mother.
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