Carter Reads the Newspaper

“Carter G. Woodson didn’t just read history. He changed it.” As the father of Black History Month, he spent his life introducing others to the history of his people.
Carter G. Woodson was born to two formerly enslaved people ten years after the end of the Civil War. Though his father could not read, he believed in being an informed citizen. So Carter read the newspaper to him every day. When he was still a teenager, Carter went to work in the coal mines. There he met a man named Oliver Jones, and Oliver did something important: he asked Carter not only to read to him and the other miners, but also research and find more information on the subjects that interested them. “My interest in penetrating the past of my people was deepened,” Carter wrote. His journey would take him many more years, traveling around the world and transforming the way people thought about history.
From an award-winning team of author Deborah Hopkinson and illustrator Don Tate, this first-ever picture book biography of Carter G. Woodson emphasizes the importance of pursuing curiosity and encouraging a hunger for knowledge of stories and histories that have not been told. Illustrations also feature brief biological sketches of important figures from African and African-American history.

• Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
• Under My Hijab
• The Undefeated
• Alma and How She Got Her Name
• The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: A True Story About an Accidental Invention (Really!)
• The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop
• No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas
• How to Read a Book
• Do Not Lick This Book
• Lubna and Pebble