A well-written celebration of historian Carter Woodson, founder of black history month and fierce advocate of the value of the stories of black Americans.

This is a well done historical fiction tale with details about the life of Carter Woodson. Despite the details, it is a believable story-like biography. ( )

Carter G. Woodson, the "Father of Black History," was born in Virginia in 1875 to formerly enslaved parents. They told him their stories, and his father asked him to read the newspaper, whenever they could get one; "reading the newspaper gave Carter his first glimpse of the wider world." Carter didn't get to attend school as much as he wanted; he delayed high school to work in coal mines, but eventually attended high school and then college, earning a master's degree and then a PhD from Harvard. "At Harvard, so the story goes, one of Carter's professors said that Black people had no history." Carter set out to prove him wrong; he wrote pamphlets and placed notices in newspapers to promote "Negro History Week" (which became Black History Month). "The boy who began by reading the newspaper to others transformed the way people thought about history. He fought for a history based on truth - a history that includes all people. [He] didn't just study history. He changed it. And we can too."

Back matter includes further resources, a bibliography, an author's note, an illustrator's note, a timeline of Carter Godwin Woodson's life and accomplishments, sources for quotes, and a list of Black leaders pictured in the book (including on the endpapers), from Muhammad Ali to Phyllis Wheatley. ( )

"Carter G. Woodson didn't just read history. He changed it." Carter is the creator of Black History Month. Shortly after the end of the Civil War Carter is born. His parents are formerly enslaved people who although cannot read want to know what is going on and be knowledgeable. So Carter reads his father the newspaper. At a young age he begins working in the coal mines. There Oliver Jones asks him to read the newspaper to him and the other miners. He traveled the world and help share the stories and history of African Americans.

Great and insightful book for children ( )