Melena’s Jubilee

CLASSROOM GUIDE

 

Bank Street College Best Book of the Year

Outstanding Book, Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California

50 Picture Books for Super Sum- mer Reading, Black

Children’s Books and Authors
A Teaching for Change selection

 

Forgive and be forgiven. It sounds so appealing—why doesn’t it happen every day? Finding herself forgiven on a rain-scrubbed morning after a difficult day, Melena seizes her fresh start and shares the song in her heart with her family and friends. It’s a day of new beginnings. It’s Melena’s jubilee. Melena is thoroughly appealing and so is this Own Voices story.

Written by Zetta Elliott

Illustrated by Aaron Boyd

$9.95 paperback
ISBN 9780884485605
9 x 10 • 32 pages
Illustrated in color throughout Ages 4 – 8 • F&P level M PICTURE BOOK/FICTION

Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott (Brooklyn, NY) moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, and her plays have been staged in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. She is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, including the award-winning picture book Bird. Her urban fantasy novel Ship of Souls was named a Booklist Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Title for Youth. Three books published under her own imprint, Rosetta Press, have been named Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature. Elliott is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing.

 

Aaron Boyd is the illustrator of 25 children’s books including Luigi and the Barefoot Races, Babu’s Song, Daddy Goes to Work, and the Panda Goes to School series. His pop-up Storybook Year won a Clio Top 4 award and was inducted into the Smithsonian Rare Books collection. He has also received Children’s Africana Book, Choices Sports, Notable Children’s Book, and Hermes Creative awards, and his advertising graphics have received Addy Gold and Graphis awards.

“I write predominantly about Black children because I grew up believing I was invisible in the real world, and it hurt just as much to discover that I was also invisible in the realm of the imaginary. I write the books I wish I had had as a child.” - Zetta Elliott

 

“A character that’s hard not to love.” - Kirkus Reviews

 

“Contemplative and thought- provoking, with vibrant mixed-media images.” - Publishers Weekly