{"product_id":"a-centennial-celebration-of-the-brownies-book-9781496841230","title":"A Centennial Celebration of the Brownies' Book","description":"Contributions by Jani L. Barker, Rudine Sims Bishop, Julia S. Charles-Linen, Paige Gray, Dianne Johnson-Feelings, Jonda C. McNair, Sara C. VanderHaagen, and Michelle Taylor Watts \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Brownies' Book\u003c\/i\u003e occupies a special place in the history of African American children's literature. Informally the children's counterpart to the NAACP's \u003ci\u003eThe Crisis\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, it was one of the first periodicals created primarily for Black youth. Several of the objectives the creators delineated in 1919 when announcing the arrival of the publication--\"To make them familiar with the history and achievements of the Negro race\" and \"To make colored children realize that being 'colored' is a beautiful, normal thing\"--still resonate with contemporary creators, readers, and scholars of African American children's literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The meticulously researched essays in \u003ci\u003eA Centennial Celebration of \"The Brownies' Book\" \u003c\/i\u003eget to the heart of \u003ci\u003eThe Brownies' Book\u003c\/i\u003e \"project\" using critical approaches both varied and illuminating. Contributors to the volume explore the underappreciated role of Jessie Redmon Fauset in creating \u003ci\u003eThe Brownies' Book\u003c\/i\u003e and in the cultural life of Black America; describe the young people who immersed themselves in the pages of the periodical; focus on the role of Black heroes and heroines; address \u003ci\u003eThe Brownies' Book\u003c\/i\u003e in the context of critical literacy theory; and place \u003ci\u003eThe Brownies' Book\u003c\/i\u003e within the context of Black futurity and justice. Bookending the essays are, reprinted in full, the first and last issues of the magazine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Centennial Celebration of \"The Brownies' Book\"\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates the many ways in which the magazine--simultaneously beautiful, complicated, problematic, and inspiring--remains worthy of attention well into this century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDianne Johnson-Feelings\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of English at the University of South Carolina. She has dedicated her career to recovering the history of African American children's literature. As Dinah Johnson she is author of several picture books including \u003ci\u003eBlack Magic \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eH Is for Harlem\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cb\u003eJonda C. McNair\u003c\/b\u003e is the Charlotte S. Huck Endowed Professor of Children's Literature at The Ohio State University. She specializes in children's books written by and about African Americans. McNair served as chair of the 2021 John Newbery Award Selection Committee and as a past chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University Press of Mississippi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50388959363346,"sku":"9781496841230","price":120.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dec62bbf-bcad-4c6f-837d-bea0035f0a82.jpg?v=1728913033","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-centennial-celebration-of-the-brownies-book-9781496841230","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}