Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow – Cannonball Read 17

Messy handwriting doesn’t mean you can’t be an author

Abdul’s Story by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

May 12, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I have read parts of Abdul’s Story off and on for a year now. Finally, I was able to find the finish copy and sink my teeth in. This story is how a young boy, Abdul, loves telling stories. But writing them is a lot harder. Besides, why write them down? Some stories are meant to be told. Yet, when an author comes to his class, a man who looks like Abul with his straight lines, and unscuffed shoes, he learns that there are many […]

Names, family and two neat books

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

The Gifts of Being Grand: For Grandparents Everywhere by Marianne Richmond

November 27, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A short (all of two books) list of picture books follows this paragraph. Wait, is it a list if it is only two? Anyway, both books would be good for gifts to different people. The first one is a great gift for a child and the second, for grandparents. Your Name is a Song talks about how it can be difficult for a child who has a name that is difficult to pronounce. Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow shows how one mother shows her child how beautiful her […]

Mommy’s Khimar is Lovely

May 3, 2018 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A young American-Muslim girl tells about her mother’s colorful khimars (or headscarf). She plays dress up in them (she is a princess, a mamma bird) and her mother shows her how to properly wear it as well. The girl talks about all the things she does. Just like any other child. She talks about a grandmother who does not go to the mosque, but is loved and is a member of her family. And she talks about her extended family in the mosque. She talks […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission