Charles R. Smith

"Hop on the bike with Bessie Stringfield, the motorcycle queen of Miami, in this powerful picture book from Coretta Scott King medalist Charles R. Smith, Jr. and debut picture book illustrator Charlot Kristensen. In 1929, 18-year-old Bessie Stringfield hopped on her motorcycle and headed out on an adventure, an unusual choice for a young Black woman at the time. Paying her way by winning motorcycle races, she criss-crossed the country through small...

Rhyming text pays homage to twelve baseball legends of the Negro leagues including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Willie Wells. Back matter presents player notes and more context about the Negro leagues.

A brief biography in verse of boxer Muhammad Ali. From the Publisher: A dynamic author-illustrator team follows the three time heavyweight champ through twelve rounds of a remarkable life. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee-I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived!" From the moment a fired-up teenager from Kentucky won 1960 Olympic gold to the day in 1996 when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson's, returned to raise the Olympic...

"One hundred years ago, one of the most popular spectator sports was bicycle racing, and the man to beat was Marshall "Major" Taylor, who set records in his teens and won his first world championship by age twenty. The first African American world champion in cycling and the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport, Major Taylor faced down challenge after challenge, not least the grueling Six-Day Race, a test of speed, strength,...

Art and poetry combine to tell the story of boxer Jack Johnson, who became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion in the early part of the twentieth century.

A collection of twelve poems that celebrate contemporary women basketball stars, including Sue Bird, Candace parker, and Brittney Griner.

"In 1934, Chicago was the setting for one of the most fascinating ballgames in history: the second annual East-West Games. Come step back in time to see the best of the best Negro League players take each other on in this All-Star Game. This exhilarating play-by-play is a tour de force: a complete imagining of the radio broadcast of that thrilling game. You'll meet the legendary players, step into the stands with the fans, and even hear the radio...

Illustrations and simple, rhyming text encourage the reader to wiggle, shake, and twirl to the beat.

Poems celebrating some of the greatest talent in soccer today, who just all happen to be women.

Stories and poems about playing basketball.