I personally luv all the Cheetah Girl books I even wrote my own internet site on the Cheetah Girls: Groups.msn.com/Cheetahgirlsworld. I think ths book is good because I can sort of relate with Dorinda. I mean the boy who I'm in luv with is mixed with everything and people say stuff. But I luv the book and u would too ...

I have read all of the cheetah girls' book all except volume 9-10. They are wonderful books for young girls to read... Dorinda's secret shows that you should be proud of yourself no matter what race religion gender you are. I really like this book, I can relate with Dorinda because my brother is half white.... This book is all that and a bag of chips

The cheetah girls books are so cool. Dorinda's secret is cool because she learns that racism is wrong. It was a touching story. It was DDDDAAAAA BBBBBBOOOOOOMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBB!

The Pinkney couple's biography on Ella Fitzgerald is a delightful read for young children who want to learn more about the talented jazz artist. The use of narrator Scat Cat Monroe as a device to engage children is successful especially due to his use of language. The rhymes and rhythms the authors adopt to tell the story echo the snazziness of the music at the time. Young readers will thoroughly enjoy getting to know more about the artist Fitzgerald through this story.

I found a children's book about her, even better. It was a great book to jive with. Beautiful pictures, and a nice history lesson on this wonderful woman!

"You may think I look like any other cat. But baby, I'm in a class all by myself. Scat Cat's my name. Scat Cat Monroe. A name I've earned. Got my name from knowin' Ella. Ella Fitzgerald. The Queen of Scat. What's scat? you ask. Scat's the sound that don't hold back. Ella's sound-that was scat. Singing so supreme. Music's velvet-ribbon dream..." Narrated by this cool, zoot suited feline, Scat Cat Monroe introduces the incomparable, Ella Fitzgerald, to a whole new generation of fans. From her humble beginnings in Yonkers, New York, to her contest winning debut at Harlem's Apollo Theater at seventeen, to her meteoric rise, singing with the big bands and jazz artists of the 1930s and '40s, Scat Cat was there, stompin' at the Savoy with the Chick Webb Orchestra and jammin' to cloud nine and back with Dizzy Gillespie. "Now, when Ella performed, she let her lyrics go. She took her singing out to play." Andrea Davis Pinkney's engaging, lyrical text swings with imagery, magic, and rhythm. Brian Pinkney's bold, bright, and inventive illustrations dazzle, as they swirl around the pages to the music of the words. Together, word and art create an inspiring and captivating introductory biography starring the First Lady of Song. With an Author's Note at the end to complete the story, Ella Fitzgerald is an energetic, fun-filled tribute, that's perfect for music lovers 8-12, and also works well as a read-aloud for younger children.

My son, Maxwell, loves this book. We brought it for his 1st birthday. His dad reads it to him often. It's a positive reinforcement of the uniqueness of being African American. This book does a great job at highlighting the beautiful features of African American children. Maxwell smiles and laughs when he sees his own pretty brown reflection at the end of the book.

A beautifully written and illustrated book for children of all races. My daughter especially enjoys looking in the mirror on the last page. Its a wonderful self exploratory book for babies.

This bought this book for my grandsons (2 1/2 and 15 months). It quickly became one of their favorite books. They especially enjoy the mirror in the back. Thanks for such a positive and very simple book. SEG

"Jump Back, Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar" combines several poems from this beloved African-American poet with illustrations from several different artists: Ashley Bryan, Faith Ringgold, and more. Dunbar (1872-1906) was an expert at writing poems in both a formal "literary" English and in a style that evoked African-American vernacular speech (this second type of poem was known as a "dialect" poem). This book includes excellent examples of both modes. A sample from a "dialect" poem: "Fiddlin' man jes' stop his fiddlin', / Lay his fiddle on de she'f."

I liked how several different visual artists contributed to this book; this gives the book a nice sense of variety. My favorite illustrations include Jerry Pinkney's pictures, which are vibrant with color and energy, and Carole Byard's delicate picture that accompanies "The Sparrow."

These are poems about nature, African-American culture, and the joys of love and family life. This book is an excellent choice for a multicultural children's book collection.

A versatile group of illustrators add flair to Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. Faith Ringgold's portrait of Frederick Douglass gives additional power to "Douglass". Jerry Pinkney's illustrations capture the playfulness and sass of "A Negro Love Song"; and "The Colored Band". Both Carole Byard's and Jan Spivey Gilchrist's illustrations add contemporary color and meaning to this anthology. The notes list brief biographical information on Dunbar and some background data on the title of this book. Some facts about the illustrators are also included in this collection of poems. This book can be used for school and church performances and plays.

What do Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune and Shirley Chisholm all have in common? They're three of the ten extraordinary African American freedom fighters in Andrea Davis Pinkney's marvelous collection, Let It Shine. These are strong women who didn't just sit back and accept the status quo, but met challenges head on and took action to change the world and make it a better place. These ten dynamic women were never silent, even when they thought no one was listening, faced discrimination, inequality and racism, triumphed in their battles against oppression and for civil rights and inspired those who followed in their footsteps. Told in easy to read, conversational style, each chapter is rich in both anecdotal and historical detail and accompanied by Stephen Alcorn's beautiful and bold oil painting illustrations. Perfect for youngsters 10 and older, Let It Shine also makes a wonderful read-aloud book the entire family can share and enjoy.

"Let It Shine: The Stories of Ten Black Women Freedom Fighters" is an amazing, entertaining, and educational journey back through time for both children and adults alike. The stories accurately depict the changing face of America for all people. The author, Andrea Davis Pinkney, uses a combination of oral stories and historical facts to re-create the lives of ten African American women "freedom fighters" (a.k.a. civil rights activists.) The descriptive language Pinkney uses keeps the style of the text upbeat and enjoyable. Among the list of women are Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks. However, there is also a presence of many unknown women, such as Shirley Chisholm, an inspirational politician, and Biddy Mason, a one-time slave with never ending generosity. The stories are quite diverse, spanning a history of nearly the entire 20th century. Some of these historical references include the signing of the emancipation proclamation, the peaceful demonstrations of the civil rights movement, and the Democratic Convention of 1968. There is one common, underlying goal of each story- inspiration. From Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad to Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat, there is a sublte undertone that promotes and requires action. These women learned that justice comes from not only speaking, but doing. Their stories and successes encourage people of all ages to get up and fight against inequality. The combination of descriptive oral stories and historical facts, along with the colorful illustrations, keep readers of any age interested in this text.

This book is about a girl showing her little brother how to dance. The text is a poem, with a fun, dance-like rhythm. For example,

"I stomp my feet. I clap my hands. Arms up, arms down, I spin around."

A child can imitate the actions, and expand on them with their own creativity. The colors are vibrant and the artwork is beautiful. I like the family context also, because it is modeling an older sibling teaching a younger one.

My daughter loves this book. She tries to do the dance moves as I read each page.

Twelve-year-old Lettie is a slave girl living on the Tucker Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1861. It is only because of the friendship of her owner's young daughter, Katherine, that Lettie and her family have not been separated Even though Katherine taught her to read and has ensured that her father is not cruel, Lettie still longs to be free. With more questions than answers caused by the outbreak of war, she takes a daring step and writes to President Abraham Lincoln with the question she must know the answer to - when will she finally be free? This was a moving story about the cruelty of slavery as seen through the story of a spirited young girl longing to be free. Even though the letters were fictional, they seemed so real.

Readers may have heard the name "Alvin Ailey" but this book makes the man live. From the time he was a kid his life was music: at first in church. Alvin's moving, leaping body is caught perfectly in the scratchboard illustrations toned with watercolors and acrylic. A fine top choice biography of an African-American artist!

As a future teacher in an ethnically diverse society, I am very concerned about presenting positive views of other cultures. I stress "positive" because too many books present a negative, stereotyped view of others who fill our world. My search for the perfect "good" book to present a positive message about a black child who did not speak English incorrectly was not easy. I finally did find a book which turned out to be better than I expected.

Hold Fast to Dreams, by Andrea Pinkney, is about a 12-year-old black girl and her family; her sister, mother and father. The family moves from an all black neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, to an all white neighborhood in Wexford, Connecticut. Deirdre, the main character, is very nervous about going to a school where she will be the only black person in the entire school. She is a very smart girl and loves photography and the poetry of Langston Hughes, a poet whom no white student knows anything about. The book focuses on the dreams of each character and how those dreams were affected by changes in life's situations. The book touches on racism, blind prejudices, and stereotyping while teaching acceptance, friendship, trust, and recognition.

Here is a brief synopsis of the book, Hold Fast to Dreams. Deirdre Willis, the main character, seems to want to remain resistant to the strangeness of her new situation. Her sister, Lindsay, chooses to force her acceptance by the white students by "acting white." She is a good athlete and so tries to prove herself the best at the new game of lacrosse, which neither of the girls knew how to play; in fact, they had never heard of lacrosse. The girls' father's dream was to provide the very best for his family. His promotion to vice president of the new company was the beginning of his dream. Their mother actually gave up her dream of being a second grade teacher in support of her husband's dream. Deirdre, Lindsay and their father all come up against some serious racism issues. Everyone at Deirdre's school is afraid of Deirdre because she is black. One very popular girl, Stacy Sneed, is especially afraid of her. One girl, whose nickname is Web, however, sought out Deirdre's friendship. Web always felt different from the other girls in her school because she is a redhead. Lindsay, because of trying to "act white," came up against a group of girls who challenged her in an unfriendly manner. This challenge, in which Lindsay was completely embarrassed, forced her to lie to her mother. She did not want to go back to school and she lied and pretended to be "sick." Mr. Willis had to deal with a racist guard at his company who forced Mr. Willis into a corner and demanded to see his company id. The guard knew that Mr. Willis worked for the company. He was simply showing his racism. Mr. Willis told his daughters that it felt like that guard had taken a piece of his integrity. (This is an obvious deep rupture of emotion that a thoughtless act of prejudice can cause.) I liked the book because it presented these very serious issues and then worked each issue out in a realistic manner. In the end, Deirdre won second place in a school contest and she realized that she only needed to please herself. Her sister, Lindsay, also realized that she did not have to change her behavior in order to be accepted. Mr. Willis was no longer challenged by the guard. Mrs. Willis relaxed a little each day knowing her family would be okay.

The language of the book is beautiful. The author uses a plethora of figurative language which clearly paints a picture in your mind of the scene. She spoke of "the half-circle moon glowing into the kitchen, casting a creamy haze over the room" (1). "The rickety noise was part of my room's rhythm, along with the steady ticking of my alarm clock" (27). "The sun's glare lighted the dew on the leaves, making the trees in the distance twinkle like a forest of crystal-drop chandeliers" (63). "The moon hung high and full in the blue-black sky. Its pearly, glistening light followed us along the road" (106). Simply exquisite language from the beginning of the book until the very end!

This beautiful picture book biography recounts the life and career of jazz musician, Edward Kennedy Ellington -- better known to all as the Duke.

When the Duke's parents enrolled him in piano lessons for the very first time, he flat out did not want to go. At that time he had visions of playing baseball; but his parents insisted that he learn to play the piano. The music lessons were slow and not a lot of fun. It wasn't long before he quit taking lessons altogether and kissed the piano goodbye. Little did he know then that the melodious rhythms of Ragtime would draw him back to this instrument again and lead to his success as a great musician, composer, and orchestra leader!

Andrea Davis Pinkney does an outstanding job sharing the Duke's story with young readers. Her husband, Brian Pinkney, matches her wonderful text with vibrate illustrations, which translate the Duke's music into a series of bold colored spirals, waves, curls, and swirls that literally leap off of the pages of the book! Without a doubt, this husband and wife collaboration will guide readers in appreciating the rhythm and beat of the Duke's life and music. This book is truly a musician's delight!

I just finished reading the Pinkney's "Duke Ellington" to a first grade class in our predominantly white rural school northeast of Seattle. Being trained as a musician, but now working as a librarian, I loved the way this text really swings. When I noticed much of the slang was going over the heads of the children, I'd ask them if they knew what certain words meant. Interestingly, the one African-American girl in the class was hip to most of the jive.

Sure some of the terminology went right past these kids, but they got into the groove, which is carried along soulfully by the vibrant illustrations. Like another reviewer here, when I was done reading this to the kids, I wanted to hear "Take the 'A' Train." Fortunately I had a CD of "Duke Ellington's 16 Most Requested Songs" sitting in my library, so I popped it in, and these kids were a-hoppin' and a-boppin'.

I think next time, I'll play the CD first. Hopefully, I'll be able to settle 'em down afterwards to hear this jazzy biography.

"Duke Ellington" is a biography of the legendary composer. The book is directed towards younger readers. Andrea Davis Pinkney's text is well complemented by the rich, colorful illustrations by her husband and collaborator, Brian Pinkney.

The book begins with Ellington's childhood, and describes his early interest in music and the beginning of his career. The Pinkneys portray his triumph at the Cotton Club, his musical partnership with Billy Strayhorn, and other aspects of his life and career. The book concludes with the triumphant premiere of Ellington's great composition "Black, Brown, and Beige" at Carnegie Hall in New York.

One of the aspects of the book that I like best is Andrea Pinkney's use of hip slang that recalls the era being portrayed. Example: "Yeah, those solos were kickin'. Hot-buttered bop, with lots of sassy-cool tones." And Brian Pinkney's illustrations combine vibrant color with an appealing "antiqued" look. Overall, an excellent educational book for young readers.