Picture Books to Inspire

From activists to artists to brave children, these picture books tell the tales of individuals whose legacies inspire new generations to act. We're thrilled to host KEITH HENRY BROWN, illustrator of Postcards from Malcolm X, VIOLETA ENCARNACIÓN, illustrator of Barbed Wire Between Us, as well as MIA WENJEN, the author behind both titles, and LINDA SUE PARK, Newbery Medalist and author of Run. Sing. Dream. 

These are brilliant true stories that you just can't miss. Join us in-store to hear all about them!

About the books:

Postcards from Malcolm X written by MIA WENJEN and illustrated by KEITH HENRY BROWN

When Japanese American activist Yuri Kochiyama shook Malcolm X’s hand at a courthouse in 1963, it sparked a transformative friendship built on justice, solidarity, and hope. This book introduces readers to an unsung hero of the civil rights movement and to the extraordinary friendship between two leaders from different communities, bound by a shared vision of equality. 

Barbed Wire Between Us written by MIA WENJEN and illustrated by VIOLETA ENCARNACIÓN

A single poem holds two lives, separated by decades yet bound by the same stretch of barbed wire.

Read forward, a Japanese American girl is uprooted and sent to an incarceration camp during World War II, her world reduced to dust, distance, and longing. Read in reverse, and the poem transforms: now a Latina girl stands in that same place, detained generations later, her story echoing across time.

Together, they create a book that reads like a mirror held up to the past—and the present.

Run. Sing. Dream. written by LINDA SUE PARK

From Rosa Parks to Greta Thunberg, from James Baldwin to Malala Yousafzai, the world has been shaped by those who found the courage to stand, speak, sing, and dream. With spare, poetic text and vibrant illustrations, this inspiring book celebrates the many forms bravery can take: a quiet act of resistance, a powerful song, a determined march, or a single dream carried forward. This book invites children everywhere to ask themselves one vital question: What will you do to be brave?

Thursday, October 8th at 6pm at Our 17th St Store!