''Rosa'' is a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

written by poet, activist, and educator

Nikki Giovanni Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets,Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds)"Nikki Giovanni" ''E ...

and illustrated by

Bryan Collier Bryan Collier (born 1967) is an American writer and illustrator known best for illustrating children's books. He won both the Coretta Scott King Award, as illustrator, and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award for ''Uptown'' (Holt, 2000), the f ...

. A biography of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

civil rights activist

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

, it was adapted to film in 2007 by Weston Woods Studios, Inc., narrated by the author. Giovanni was the first recipient of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award and knew Parks personally through their involvement in

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

activism. ''Rosa'' was published in October 2005, as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' historic arrest and the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

. Parks died of natural causes later that month at the age of 92.

Awards

''Rosa'' won the

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award rec ...

for Illustrators and was a

Caldecott Honor Book The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

in 2006.“Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938-Present”
American Library Association.

References

2005 children's books Civil rights movement in popular culture American picture books Biographies about African-American people Books about African-American history Caldecott Honor-winning works Children's history books Cultural depictions of activists Montgomery bus boycott Coretta Scott King Award-winning works {{picture-book-stub