Celebrate Black History Month for Kids

With dozens of profiles on both historical and contemporary Black people from Atlantic Canada, Lindsay Ruck celebrates the accomplishments and recognizes the hardships of some of our region's least-known amazing heroes.

When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she's heard from her family come to mind. She imagines what the community was once like – the brightly painted houses nestled into the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge bonfires.

In Birchtown and the Black Loyalists, Wanda Taylor recounts the incredible story of the Black Loyalists of Birchtown for young readers. With educational and accessible language, readers are introduced to the journey of Black American soldiers taken from Africa as slaves, their quest for freedom, the settlement and struggle of Black Loyalists on Nova Scotian soil, and the enduring spirit of their descendants in spite of a history marked by hardship and loss.

Based entirely on original research, The Underground Railroad offers fresh insights into the rich heritage of African Americans who became African Canadians and helped build Toronto as we know the city today.

Words burn bright in this joyful celebration of rap, creativity, and self-expression. As Khodi Dill's rhymes heat up, the diverse crew of kids – illustrated in Awuradwoa Afful's bold, energetic style – gain self-confidence and a sense of freedom in this wonderful picture book debut that is perfect for reading aloud.

Meet Viola Desmond, community leader and early civil rights trailblazer! On the night of November 8th 1946, Nova Scotia businesswoman Viola Desmond stood up for her right to be in the "unofficial" whites-only section of a New Glasgow movie theatre and was arrested for it. This new picture book biography series features simple text and full-colour, comic-flavoured illustration with speech balloons that bring the story alive.