Jacqueline Woodson’s Most Beautiful, Impactful Books for Young Readers
by Charnaie Gordon
Remarkable writers are visionaries of sorts. They can express their ideas clearly and develop fresh narratives. They have the power to string together words to form sentences so eloquently which in turn generate ideas, inspire revolutions, and change the way we view ourselves in the world and our place in history. Remarkable writers can change the way you look at literature. Jacqueline Woodson did that for me.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1963, Woodson spent most of her childhood in the 1960s and 1970s moving from place to place, without a sense of home. Throughout her childhood, she endured segregation ranging from subtle bias to Jim Crow laws. She has since made a career out of breaking down barriers and smashing glass ceilings for young readers through her remarkable writing. She has published over three dozen books with themes like race, LGBTQ+ identity, and interracial love. Her stories, often told through poems, confront current and relevant issues that are relatable to people of all ages.
Woodson is often hailed for the beauty, power, and depth of her stories. Her writing appeals to people at every stage of life — children, teens, and adults — and she has written across formats, from picture book to adult titles. She has won many of the industry’s top accolades for her work, including the Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award, National Book Award, and NAACP Image Award. In 2015, she was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. In January 2018, she was named the sixth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress for 2018-2019 and was recently named the 2020 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
I believe Woodson’s stories do more than entertain. They carry out her calling to write inspirational stories that explore real-world themes and issues. If you are a writer or aspiring writer, I urge you to use authors like Woodson as your guide to become a purposeful storyteller.
Here are some fantastic books written by the unparalleled Jacqueline Woodson:
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The Other Side
Available from:The first Woodson book I read was The Other Side, illustrated by E.B Lewis. In this story that takes place decades ago during segregation, Clover has been told that she mustn’t go over the fence to the neighbors’ house. The neighbors are White, Clover is Black, and her mother tells her it’s not safe to cross over. One day, Clover decides she will be brave enough to sit on the fence and talk to her neighbor Annie. Every time I read this book, it pulls at something inside me that lingers long after the story ends.
(Ages 5 – 8)Also available from: -
Visiting Day
Available from:This is another one not to be missed. It’s a beautiful tale of a girl traveling with her grandmother to see her incarcerated father.
(Ages 5 – 7)Also available from: -
This Is the Rope: A Story From the Great Migration
Available from:This is my favorite picture book to use to introduce kids to the Great Migration of more than six million Black people from the South to the Northern states.
(Ages 5 – 8)Also available from: -
The Day You Begin
Available from:Though it was only just released in mid-2018, The Day You Begin already feels like a modern classic. The story reminds little readers that we all feel like outsiders sometimes — and sometimes the bravest thing to do is go forth and tell your story anyway.
(Ages 5 – 8)Also available from: -
Brown Girl Dreaming
Available from:I also thoroughly enjoyed Brown Girl Dreaming, a magical book in which Woodson shares an intimate look at her childhood and what it was like to grow up in the South and Brooklyn, New York, during the 1960s and 1970s.
(Ages 10+)Also available from: -
Harbor Me
Available from:2018 has shaped up to be one of the most impressive years in Woodson’s outstanding kid lit career. In addition to The Day You Begin, she released Harbor Me, her first middle grade novel since Brown Girl Dreaming. Harbor Me celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students bond and unexpectedly learn to love and support one another.
(Ages 10+)Also available from: -
If You Come Softly
Available from:In 2018, she also celebrated the 20th anniversary of If You Come Softly, a young adult novel loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In Woodson’s take on the star-crossed lovers, she introduces readers to a Black boy and a Jewish girl whose fates become irrevocably intertwined.
(Young adult)Also available from:
