Coming Soon!!! Captain Smalls: Great Granddaddy's Storytelling Magic
Robert Smalls, born and raised as an enslaved person, commandeered a steamer ship with his crew and all of their families. They sailed to freedom, and then won several pivotal battles in the Civil War, which in turn won the freedom of all enslaved people.
This is the true story Great Granddaddy shares with his great grandchildren one evening, from the warmth of his backyard garden in the historic Black Pullman neighborhood. As he helps them choose basil and tomatoes, Great Granddaddy tells them the life story of Captain Robert Smalls. Jelani, Jaleesa, Jaleel - and their new little cousin Izzy - learn how Smalls became a legendary boat pilot. They also learn how essential each of the crew members were, how they worked as a team, and how Smalls never stopped working to help his people. Hard truths about the realities of slavery are told honestly but gently, and Great Granddaddy uses a vibrant cast of characters to throw in some unexpected comic relief here and there to make each part of the story easier to understand and enjoy. True to history, every member of the crew, and each family member played an important role on this team of real life heroes. Themes include the love of learning, the joy of family love and the importance of helping each other. This book takes a side in the anti CRT, book ban debate. It is a side that embraces the rich beauty of Black History, telling a story of a group of Founding African Americans that should never be forgotten.
This is the true story Great Granddaddy shares with his great grandchildren one evening, from the warmth of his backyard garden in the historic Black Pullman neighborhood. As he helps them choose basil and tomatoes, Great Granddaddy tells them the life story of Captain Robert Smalls. Jelani, Jaleesa, Jaleel - and their new little cousin Izzy - learn how Smalls became a legendary boat pilot. They also learn how essential each of the crew members were, how they worked as a team, and how Smalls never stopped working to help his people. Hard truths about the realities of slavery are told honestly but gently, and Great Granddaddy uses a vibrant cast of characters to throw in some unexpected comic relief here and there to make each part of the story easier to understand and enjoy. True to history, every member of the crew, and each family member played an important role on this team of real life heroes. Themes include the love of learning, the joy of family love and the importance of helping each other. This book takes a side in the anti CRT, book ban debate. It is a side that embraces the rich beauty of Black History, telling a story of a group of Founding African Americans that should never be forgotten.
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What's so special about stickers?
Midwest artist and author DaShan Thomas points out "there's something very special in bringing rarely-seen faces of color to a medium that children use every day." An essential element to these stickers is care. As with our children's books which inspired the characters in our stickers, we find it essential to deliver detailed, vibrant art that shows respect for the ultimate end user of the product. There's so much love in these stickers. Each child and adult portrayed is unique from hair to facial features to clothes, and each setting carefully chosen. For instance, one sticker portrays children jumping into the air in front of a door. The location for this sticker was inspired by the front door of DaShan Thomas's own late grandfather's house in Pullman. All of the characters and scenes in these stickers are inspired by characters in our books, and their individual backstories made conveying their excitment on each sticker that much easier to portray. When we first released "My Brother Santa: Great Granddaddy's Christmas Storytelling Magic" (available now at the Chicago Public Library) and "I Love My Whole Black Biracial Family: The Coloring Book", we started noticing more about the various products that populate children's lives, and found right away that Black Joy was in short supply in the world of stickers. To address this, we decided to release several lines of sticker packages with sincere encouragement and exciting content like Black Cowboys, Black Cowgirls, and Knights riding Pegasuses - as well as simple scenes of children at play. And of course, we included Black Santa and Mrs Claus. We're so excited about sharing these stickers with you. We are sure they will liven your celebrations and your every day. We hope they bring a little happiness to your day, and maybe the day of someone you love.