To us
it is just dirt,
the ground we walk on...
But to Dave
it was clay,
the plain and basic stuff
upon which he formed a life
as a slave nearly 200 years ago.
Dave was an extraordinary artist, poet, and potter living in South Carolina in the 1800s. He combined his superb artistry with deeply observant poetry, carved onto his pots, transcending the limitations he faced as a slave. In this inspiring and lyrical portrayal, National Book Award nominee Laban Carrick Hill's elegantly simple text and award-winning artist Bryan Collier's resplendent, earth-toned illustrations tell Dave's story, a story rich in history, hope, and long-lasting beauty.

Before there was hip hop, there was DJ Kool Herc.

On a hot day at the end of summer in 1973 Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party at a park in the South Bronx. Her brother, Clive Campbell, spun the records. He had a new way of playing the music to make the breaks--the musical interludes between verses--longer for dancing. He called himself DJ Kool Herc and this is "When the Beat Was Born." From his childhood in Jamaica to his youth in the Bronx, Laban Carrick Hill's book tells how Kool Herc came to be a DJ, how kids in gangs stopped fighting in order to breakdance, and how the music he invented went on to define a culture and transform the world.

Art Encounters is a wonderful new fiction series designed to introduce young readers to great painters. This series brings famous works of art to life through thrilling and evocative stories that reflect the individual paintings featured, not unlike The Girl with a Pearl Earring. Each book in the series will focus on the style, techniques, and influences of great painters. Over the course of the book, the cover painting, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, transforms from a nightmarish vision of death into a life-affirming masterpiece. The story alternates between Kahlo's home in Mexico City, Casa Azul, and the journey of a teenage girl and her young brother, lost in the city. At the mystical Casa Azul, everything with a face talks, including Kahlo's pet monkey, her cat, and even the portraits on the wall. And everything has an opinion about how Kahlo should be running her life, especially since it's in shambles after her divorce from Diego Rivera. Guided by her odd friends, she helps the children--and slowly regains her will to live and to create. This dramatic story offers a vivid re-imagining of the life and work of a woman as well known for her amazing life as for her amazing art.