This lyrical picture book is a joyous, poetic, celebration of Black children and a reminder of the Universe's unconditional love in stunning verse and captivating collage. Perfect for fans of Sulwe! When the Universe decides to create a child, she draws from the earth-rich, dark, and full of everything that gives life, including eyes like black star sapphires and full lips to speak the truth. With help from the Sun and the Moon, they create a child of the Universe: beautiful, powerful, and boundless with the brilliance of Black Gold. Laura Obuobi's empowering, whimsical text and London Ladd's lustrous, captivating illustrations will inspire children to love themselves exactly as they are. "Obuobi pens an origin story that's at once earthly and impressively cosmic, an ethereal children's debut that centers a Black child's beginnings."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Lyrical, empowering, and inspiring. An affirmation of the miracle each individual is." -Yamile Saied Mendez, author of Where Are You From? and What Will You Be?

Frederick Douglass was born a slave. He was taken from his mother as a baby, and separated from his grandparents when he was six. He suffered hunger and abuse, but miraculously, he learned how to read. Frederick read newspapers left in the street, and secretly collected spellings from neighborhood children. Words, he knew, would set him free. When Frederick was twenty, he escaped to the North, where he spread his abolitionist beliefs through newspaper articles, autobiographies, and speeches. He believed that all people - regardless of color or gender'were entitled to equal rights. It is Douglass's words, as well as his life, that still provide hope and inspiration across generations.