The Coretta Scott King Award is given to memorialize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife, Corretta Scott King for their contributions to promoting peace in America. The award is given to an African American author and also to an illustrator, whose books published during the preceding year, made educational and inspirational contributions to literature for children. Similar to the Newbery and Caldecott Awards, these awards are sponsored by the American Library Association (Brown and Tomlinson, 2005).
In 2004, Ashley Bryan won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustrations in his picture book, Beautiful Blackbird. The book is a perfect example of multicultural literature for children. The book is about a group of birds that are every different and beautiful color of the rainbow, but blackbird was voted the most beautiful bird in the forest. The red, yellow, green, and blue birds want to be beautiful too, so they persuade blackbird to paint their feathers with a touch of black. Blackbird wants them to understand that beauty comes from within, but he still gives them all a spot of black on their feathers, and they all stand in line to wait for their opportunity to be painted.
I have a fond opinion of Beautiful Blackbird. The illustrations are colorful and unique because they are made from colorful paper cut-outs to form collages. Bryan tells us that the scissors in the front and back of the book are the ones that his mother used for sewing and that he used for the collages in this book. I appreciate that some people can take scissors and turn paper into beautiful artwork. I also liked that the book was based on a folktale. It was one from the Illa-speaking people of Zambia which I learned from this book, and I enjoy books that teach about different cultures and heritages.
Where I went to high school, we had approximately 6 students that were not Caucasians. None of those students were African Americans. As a matter of fact, they were mostly exchange students. When I went to college, I got to know so many people with many different ethnic backgrounds, and I feel more knowing and tolerant to students with diverse backgrounds, today. I think that all children should read this book because today’s schools are much more diverse, and they need to be knowledgeable and accepting of each other.
Ashley Bryan is truly an artist. He has been illustrating and writing children’s books for many years, and let us not forget that he gardens, makes stained glass panels out of sea glass, and makes puppets. He also won a Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration for Beat the Story-Drum, Pum Pum, and Lion and the Ostrich Chicks. He is fond of folk tales and uses rhythmic tones in all of his books.
I loved the line, “Our colors sport a brand-new look, A touch of black was all it took.” This simple example of children’s literature teaches us that in this life, while it’s alright to be different, we must blend and work together. This is an excellent example of multicultural literature and a great read for children.
References
Brown, C. L. & Tomlinson, C. M. (2005). Essentials of children's literature.(5th ed.). Boston: Pearson A and B.
Bryan, A. (2003). Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
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