Black History Month is a good time to check out these fascinating characters from the past or get to know a fictional character from an award-winning book.
Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum, written and illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker (ages 4-8; Schwartz & Wade; $16.99). Parker writes with the lyrical touch of a musician in this book about jazz great Art Tatum. Born with extremely poor vision, Tatum had little formal training but could play anything he heard. An inspirational story for young readers.
Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (ages 9-12; Scholastic Press; $16.99). This Newbery honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel tells the story of 11-year-old Elijah, the first child born into freedom at the Buxton Settlement, a Canadian settlement for former slaves. With Elijah narrating this historical fiction novel, readers are introduced to the horrors of slavery as well as the humor of the ''fragile'' child's life.
Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, written by Charles R. Smith Jr. with illustrations by Bryan Collier (ages 9-12; Candlewick; $19.99). Smith's rap-style verse gives readers a sense of the bobbing and weaving that Ali went through in the boxing ring and in his life. Collier's watercolors and collages fill 80 pages with a fascinating look into Ali as a boxer, a war protester, a Muslim and a man.
I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer, by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Eric Velasquez (ages 5-9; Walker Books for Young Readers; $16.95). Matthew Henson dreamed of becoming great, but prejudice and poverty worked against him. Ultimately his perseverance and hard work led him to work side by side with Adm. Robert Peary to reach their goal - the North Pole. The author's note on the last page explains the controversy behind their historical achievement.
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It, by Sundee T. Frazier (ages 8-12; Delacorte Books for Young Readers; $14.99). The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award was given to this book about a 10-year-old biracial boy who seeks to learn about the grandfather he has never met. Brendan, who is a blue belt in tae kwon do, mixes his scientific curiosity with a strong sense of honor that makes him an intriguing character.
Jazz On A Saturday Night, written and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (ages 5-10; Scholastic Blue Sky Press; $16.99). The cool blues and greens of the paintings in this Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor book carry the rhythm and rhyme of the words in this gathering of a ''dream team'' of jazz musicians. A bonus CD introduces jazz instruments and a recording of ''Jazz on a Saturday Night,'' written for the book.
