Cover of Beautiful Blackbird

Beautiful Blackbird

Black is beautiful, uh-huh!

Long ago, Blackbird was voted the most beautiful bird in the forest. The other birds, who were colored red, yellow, blue, and green, were so envious that they begged Blackbird to paint their feathers with a touch of black so they could be beautiful too. Although Blackbird warns them that true beauty comes from within, the other birds persist and soon each is given a ring of black around their neck or a dot of black on their wings — markings that detail birds to this very day.

Read more

Coretta Scott King Award-winner Ashley Bryan's adaptation of a tale from the Ila-speaking people of Zambia resonates both with rhythm and the tale's universal meanings — appreciating one's heritage and discovering the beauty within. His cut-paper artwork is a joy.

Audience
picture bookschildrens
Length
short · 40 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Beautiful Blackbird? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Beautiful Blackbird. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. The People Could Fly: The Picture Book Shares picture books, childrens, folklore
  2. Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa Shares picture books, childrens, Africa
  3. Nasreddine Shares picture books, childrens, multicultural
  4. My People Shares picture books, childrens, multicultural

“People who read Beautiful Blackbird tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
  2. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
  3. We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
  4. Never Forgotten

“If you want more of the same (folklore about diversity), start with these.”

  1. When Turtle Grew Feathers: A Tale from the Choctaw Nation
  2. Sam and the Tigers: A Retelling of 'Little Black Sambo'
  3. Rabbit's Snow Dance
  4. Foxy!

“If it was the multicultural that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Storyteller
  2. Papagayo: The Mischief Maker
  3. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
  4. Anansi's Party Time

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Poppy the Proud
  2. Tico and the Golden Wings
  3. The Conference of the Birds
  4. Every Day Birds