From a New York Times bestselling author and an acclaimed illustrator comes this vibrant portrait of Aretha Franklin that pays her the R-E-S-P-E-C-T this Queen of Soul deserves. Aretha Franklin was born to sing. The daughter of a pastor and a gospel singer, her musical talent was clear from her earliest days in her father’s Detroit church where her soaring voice spanned more than three octaves. Her string of hit songs earned her the title “the Queen of Soul,” multiple Grammy Awards, and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But Aretha didn’t just raise her voice in song, she also spoke out against injustice and fought for civil rights. This authoritative, rhythmic picture book biography will captivate young readers with Aretha’s inspiring story.
The cadence of this condensed, but powerful biography of Aretha Franklin flows off the page! You hear her soulful voice in your mind as you read it, and the striking illustrations are full of emotion and vibrance. I love the one layout of the text, with one word spelled out to mimic her famous "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" followed by a rhyming couplet on each page, and the more in-depth, must-read page of info at the back of the book.
Two-time NAACP Image Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford is a New York Times best-selling author and poet. Her books include the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Becoming Billie Holiday, and the Caldecott Honor Books Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Freedom in Congo Square, and Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. For career achievements, she has been recognized by the North Carolina English Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC. She teaches at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Visit her online at CBWeatherford.com.
Frank Morrison is the award-winning illustrator of many books for young readers, including Jazzy Miz Mozetta by Brenda C. Roberts, winner of the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent. He also illustrated Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown and Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson, both Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books. Before becoming a children’s book illustrator and fine artist, Morrison toured the globe as a hip-hop dancer. He lives in Georgia with his family. You can visit him online at www.morrisongraphics.com.
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