November 23rd, 2020

Let's Celebrate Black Lives

The free book giveaway offer has now closed, but we still have several sets of black history wallcharts to give away. Get in touch with Katy Webster (details below) to register your interest.

Gallery of children's work

“If we are able to connect the past with the present, we might do better.”

Gaverne Bennett, Creative Director and Educationalist, The Guardian

The Children's Bookshow, with support from The Guardian, is launching an important new project to introduce children and their teachers to elements of our history that have been overlooked. We want to celebrate black lives, both the ordinary and extraordinary.

What we're offering to schools

  • A set of 6 x A2 Black History wallcharts created by The Guardian newspaper (worth £30).

  • A class set (30 copies) of the award-winning picture book The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (worth £240) for children to take home and keep.

  • A set of teaching resources to go alongside the above.

These resources are suitable for Year 6 children and are completely FREE.

The wallcharts

Published by The Guardian a wallchart series that gives a timeline of black history - from the first African Roman emperor in AD193, to the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. In a total of six parts, it shows how the history of black people has impacted the world, and will help all of us understand how we got where we are today.

The Black History wallcharts were created by Joseph Harker, Deputy Opinion Editor and Gaverne Bennett, Creative Director and Educationalist, who particularly wanted young people to learn about the key elements of black history. Joseph says "We are only just now understanding how British history cannot be considered without thinking about its race relations - and this knowledge can help us to know where we are now."

You can read about how the wallcharts were created here. And you can buy an extra set of wallcharts and use the promo code 15CHART to receive a 50% discount.

The Undefeated

***This is for the unforgettable. The unafraid. The undefeated.* The Undefeated highlights slavery, the civil rights movement and some of the world’s greatest heroes and heroines of black history ranging from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela and Zora Neale Hurston. Their huge achievements are described in an index at the end of the book. With its beautiful full colour illustrations it’s a book for children to keep and treasure. **
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator and New York Times bestselling author, who has won numerous awards including the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children. Other of his many books (he’s written 35!) include his brilliant young adult novel *The Crossover* Andersen Press. Kwame is the Founding Editor of Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time.

Teaching Ideas

You can download these teaching ideas to accompany The Undefeated and the set of Black History wallcharts to help you have the best experience with your class.

Download Let's Celebrate Black Lives resources

What schools need to do to participate

  • Send an email to Katy Webster saying you'd like to take part. We have a limited number of books and wallcharts and they will be given out on a first-come first-served basis.

  • Contact details of the lead teacher (ie name, email address, postal address and position in school).

  • Commitment to complete a short teacher questionnaire upon receipt of the free resources.

  • Agreement to share some of your children's work with us to show on our website and social media channels demonstrating how you have used the free resources. For example, this could be a piece of work on the celebration of black lives or a photo of the children enjoying The Undefeated alongside the wallcharts in the classroom.

Get in touch

If you are interested in taking part in this project and would like to receive 30 free books, 6 wall charts and a set of teaching ideas, please get in touch with Katy Webster

By phone: 07904 068084
By email: katyw.bookshow@gmail.com

(NB There are a limited number of resource packs to be given away.)

Watch Kwame read The Undefeated

##Gallery of Children's Work We love seeing the work that children have been doing in school inspired by these resources:
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Display at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Children reading *The Undefeated* at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Display at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Children working on celebrating black lives at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Display at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Zeeshan from Bangabandhu Primary shows off his work celebrating Rosa Parks
  • Black history display at Bangabandhu Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Work inspired by the project from Christopher Hatton Primary
  • Work inspired by the project from Christopher Hatton Primary
  • Work inspired by the project from Christopher Hatton Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Hawthorn Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Work inspired by this project from the children at Fallings Park Primary
  • Children from Ravenstone Primary with their black history display
  • Children from Ravenstone Primary with their black history display
  • Children from Ravenstone Primary with their black history display
  • Some of the black history work that the children of Fishergate primary have been creating
  • Some of the black history work that the children of Fishergate primary have been creating
  • Some of the work completed by children at Bangabandhu primary school, inspired by *The Undefeated*
  • Some of the work completed by children at Bangabandhu primary school, inspired by *The Undefeated*
  • Some of the work completed by children at Bangabandhu primary school, inspired by *The Undefeated*
  • Some of the work completed by children at Bangabandhu primary school, inspired by *The Undefeated*

What else is happening?

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