Carole Boston Weatherford Books in Order

Where to Start Reading Carole Boston Weatherford

With more than 80 books in her bibliography, Carole Boston Weatherford has established herself as one of the most vital voices in children's and young adult literature. Because almost all of her works are standalone biographies or historical snapshots written in verse, there is no single narrative line to follow. Instead, where you start depends on what you are looking for:

• For a Powerful History Lesson: Start with Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (2021). Illustrated by Floyd Cooper, this Coretta Scott King Award winner and Caldecott Honor book details the pride, tragedy, and resilience of Tulsa's Greenwood district.
• For Music and Rhythm Lovers: Start with R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2020) or Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane (2008). These books capture the musicality of their subjects through rhythmic, lyrical poetry.
• For Deep Family Lore: Start with Kin: Rooted in Hope (2023). Illustrated by her son, Jeffery Boston Weatherford, this middle-grade verse novel traces their family ancestry back through slavery and Reconstruction in Maryland.

A Chronological Journey Through African American History

While Carole Boston Weatherford’s children’s books were not published in chronological order, reading them according to the historical eras they depict offers a sweeping, poetic timeline of the African American experience. Here is a recommended chronological reading path:

1. The Roots: You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland (2023) – A poetic tribute to Africa as the cradle of humanity.
2. Slavery & Freedom in the Antebellum Era: Freedom in Congo Square (2016) – Depicts the weekly Sunday reprieve in New Orleans where enslaved people gathered to dance, play music, and keep traditions alive.
3. Escaping Bondage: Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom (2020) – The story of a man who escapes slavery by shipping himself in a wooden crate to Philadelphia.
4. The Underground Railroad: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (2006) – A spiritual journey tracing Harriet Tubman's guidance of escapees to the North.
5. Reconstruction & Family Ancestry: Kin: Rooted in Hope (2023) – Explores the immediate aftermath of slavery and the struggle of Reconstruction through the lens of Weatherford's own ancestors.
6. The Harlem Renaissance Era: Becoming Billie Holiday (2008) and Before John Was a Jazz Giant (2008) – Lyrical examinations of the early childhoods of music legends growing up in the early 20th century.
7. World War II: You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen (2016) – A verse novel celebrating the pioneering African American military aviators.
8. The Civil Rights Movement: Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins (2004) – Relates the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter protests from the perspective of a young girl.
9. Voting Rights Advocacy: Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement (2015) – A biographical tribute to the legendary civil rights activist.
10. The March on Washington: A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington (2022) – Spotlights the primary organizer of the famous march who was often kept in the shadows.
11. Modern Pathbreakers: All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson (2023) – A modern biographical look at the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court.

Collaborations and Mother-Son Projects

One of the most unique aspects of Carole Boston Weatherford's career is her partnership with her son, Jeffery Boston Weatherford, an award-winning illustrator and performance poet. Their collaborations provide a highly personal touch, blending two generations of creative output. Key collaborations include:

• You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen (2016) – Written by Carole and illustrated by Jeffery, this book uses poetry to teach readers about the bravery of the first African American military pilots.
• Kin: Rooted in Hope (2023) – A collaborative project where Jeffery’s scratchboard illustrations and Carole’s evocative poetry trace their family tree back to the Wye House plantation in Maryland.

Publication Order of Children’s Books

For readers who prefer to see how Weatherford's voice evolved, she has published over sixty children's books since the mid-1990s. Here is her complete children’s book list in publication order:

• Juneteenth Jamboree (1995)
• My Favorite Toy (1997)
• Mighty Menfolk (1997)
• Me and the Family Tree (1997)
• Grandma and Me (1997)
• Me and My Family Tree (1997)
• Sink or Swim (1999)
• The Sound that Jazz Makes (2000)
• Jazz Baby (2000)
• The African-American Struggle for Legal Equality in American History (2000)
• Sidewalk Chalk (2001)
• Princeville (2001)
• Great African-American Lawyers (2003)
• Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins (2004)
• A Negro League Scrapbook (2005)
• Champions on the Bench (2006)
• Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (2006)
• Dear Mr. Rosenwald (2006)
• The Carolina Parakeet (2006)
• Jesse Owens (2006)
• Birmingham, 1963 (2007)
• I, Matthew Henson (2007)
• The Library Ghost (2008)
• Before John Was a Jazz Giant (2008)
• Becoming Billie Holiday (2008)
• First Pooch (2009)
• Obama: Only in America (2009)
• Racing Against the Odds (2009)
• The Beatitudes (2009)
• Oprah: The Little Speaker (2010)
• Michelle Obama: First Mom (2010)
• Africa (2013)
• A Bat Cave (2013)
• Sugar Hill (2014)
• Leontyne Price (2014)
• Gordon Parks (2015)
• Voice of Freedom (2015)
• Freedom in Congo Square (2016)
• You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen (2016)
• In Your Hands (2017)
• The Legendary Miss Lena Horne (2017)
• Dorothea Lange (2017)
• Schomburg (2017)
• Be a King (2018)
• How Sweet the Sound (2018)
• The Roots of Rap (2019)
• By and By (2020)
• Box (2020)
• R-E-S-P-E-C-T (2020)
• Beauty Mark (2020)
• Unspeakable (2021)
• Dreams for a Daughter (2021)
• Madam Speaker (2021)
• The Faith of Elijah Cummings (2022)
• Call Me Miss Hamilton (2022)
• Me and My Mama (2022)
• Standing in the Need of Prayer (2022)
• A Song for the Unsung (2022)
• You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland (2023)
• Sugar Pie Lullaby (2023)
• All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson (2023)
• How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee (2023)
• Kin: Rooted in Hope (2023)

Publication Order of Collections, Adult Non-Fiction, & Anthologies

In addition to her children’s picture books and middle-grade verse novels, Weatherford has published poetry chapbooks, adult non-fiction, and edited anthologies. Note that The Tan Chanteuse and The Tar Baby on the Soapbox represent her early poetry works geared toward adult readers.

Publication Order of Collections

• The Tar Baby on the Soapbox (1999)
• Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People (2002)
• Stormy Blues (2002)

Publication Order of Non-Fiction

• The Tan Chanteuse (1995)

Publication Order of Anthologies

• In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers (1997)
• Amazing Faces (2010)
• World Make Way (2018)
• No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History (2020)