Your Life Matters

PreS-Gr 1–An engaging text to introduce conversations about race with young readers. Children absorb the messaging from the world around them, and in these volatile times, and Black children may feel a heightened sense of despair and question the value of their own lives. This book makes that question palpable; in one scene, a Black mother is comforting her daughter as they watch the news alongside the passage, “Headlines glow. Sirens wail. A question presses in the dark: ‘Does my life matter?’” Readers quickly learn the answer. Yes, Black children’s lives matter. Singleton’s heartening text and Barron’s rich jewel-tone illustrations are inspiring. Each illustration features one or more of ten Black heroes—Katherine Johnson, George Washington Carver, and Jackie Robinson, among them—uplifting a child and showing them the power in their strength, voice, courage, hands, words, and heart. No matter the ills of the world, Black children are “beautifully wonderfully made.” Back matter helps readers identify and learn more about the heroes.