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    Black Hands

    Builders of Our Nation

    Author Carole Boston Weatherford
    Read by Carole Boston Weatherford
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    On sale Apr 28, 2026 | 13 Minutes | 9798217337965
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    Commemorate the innumerable ways the African American community has shaped the foundation of the United States in this stunning, poetic picture book from the Caldecott Honor-winning team behind Freedom in Congo Square.

    Black hands molded clay, chiseled marble,
    rendered portraits, and painted vistas.
    Black hands penned literary testaments
    that have stood the test of time.

    Since the United States won independence in 1776, African Americans have contributed greatly to the nation’s culture, politics, economy, and landscape. Black Hands celebrates the countless contributions of African Americans—from building the White House, birthing jazz, and landing a man on the moon to pushing for social justice. Black excellence, however, has too often been overlooked.

    Black Hands reunites Newbery Honor winner Carole Boston Weatherford and Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie to chronicle the remarkable progress of African Americans, even in the face of adversity.
    Carole Boston Weatherford is a two-time NAACP Image Award Winner, an ALA-ALSC Children’s Literature Legacy Award Winner, and the author of Standing in the Need of Prayer, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner; Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, which won the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, a Caldecott Honor, and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor Book Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom; Family Feast!; and many other acclaimed books. She was also named the 2025–2026 Young People’s Poet Laureate. Carole was born in Baltimore, where she now resides. View titles by Carole Boston Weatherford
    "Readers will be eager to point out figures like Mae Jemison and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will perhaps be inspired to learn more about others they do not yet know by sight.....An inspiring celebration of how Black hands have always woven essential parts of the American tapestry." —Booklist

    "The evocative language, layered illustrations, and purposeful historical framing make this a valuable anchor text for conversations about history, identity, and contribution." —School Library Journal

    "Boston Weatherford and Christie present a history, both passionate and sobering, of how the African diaspora has shaped America." —Publishers Weekly

    About

    Commemorate the innumerable ways the African American community has shaped the foundation of the United States in this stunning, poetic picture book from the Caldecott Honor-winning team behind Freedom in Congo Square.

    Black hands molded clay, chiseled marble,
    rendered portraits, and painted vistas.
    Black hands penned literary testaments
    that have stood the test of time.

    Since the United States won independence in 1776, African Americans have contributed greatly to the nation’s culture, politics, economy, and landscape. Black Hands celebrates the countless contributions of African Americans—from building the White House, birthing jazz, and landing a man on the moon to pushing for social justice. Black excellence, however, has too often been overlooked.

    Black Hands reunites Newbery Honor winner Carole Boston Weatherford and Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie to chronicle the remarkable progress of African Americans, even in the face of adversity.

    Author

    Carole Boston Weatherford is a two-time NAACP Image Award Winner, an ALA-ALSC Children’s Literature Legacy Award Winner, and the author of Standing in the Need of Prayer, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner; Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, which won the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, a Caldecott Honor, and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor Book Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom; Family Feast!; and many other acclaimed books. She was also named the 2025–2026 Young People’s Poet Laureate. Carole was born in Baltimore, where she now resides. View titles by Carole Boston Weatherford

    Praise

    "Readers will be eager to point out figures like Mae Jemison and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will perhaps be inspired to learn more about others they do not yet know by sight.....An inspiring celebration of how Black hands have always woven essential parts of the American tapestry." —Booklist

    "The evocative language, layered illustrations, and purposeful historical framing make this a valuable anchor text for conversations about history, identity, and contribution." —School Library Journal

    "Boston Weatherford and Christie present a history, both passionate and sobering, of how the African diaspora has shaped America." —Publishers Weekly

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