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Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival

Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival

Supporting professional and emerging artists of African descent

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    • About The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival
    • Ashley Bryan’s Legacy
    • Research & Data
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    • Acknowledgements
  • Discover Our Books
    • A Feast for Joseph By OD Bonny & Terry Farish & Illustrated by Ken Daley
    • Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life Written & Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
    • Indigo Dreaming By Dinah JohnsonIndigo Dreaming & Illustrated by Anna Cunha
    • Moonflower By Kacen Callender & Illustrated by Daniel Minter
    • Stuntboy: In The Meantime By Jason Reynolds & Illustrated by Raúl the Third
    • When I Get Older: The Story behind “Wavin’ Flag” By K’NAAN & Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
    • The Year I Flew Away By Marie Arnold
    • Discover Our Books (2023)
    • Discover Our Books (2021)
    • Discover Our Books (2022)
    • Discover Our Books (2020)
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Welcome to the 4th Annual

Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival

Celebrating Black Books & Creators

The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival celebrates Black and Black Immigrant children’s books and their creators with an annual 3,000+ book giveaway to Maine families, the production of acclaimed media and activities and live book events.

The festival honors the legacy of legendary Black children’s book creator and artist Ashley Bryan and is named after his classic picture book Beautiful Blackbird.

We believe that Black children and immigrant children should have the opportunity to build their home libraries and fill them with books that represent their lives and experiences. This is why we are proud to give away 3,000 copies of the featured books to children served by Portland Public Housing, Portland Parks and Recreation, and the Lewiston community.

The festival was founded in 2020 by Indigo Arts Alliance in partnership with I’m Your Neighbor Books and Diverse BookFinder and is produced with the 2023 partners: The Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, the Farnsworth Museum, and LA Arts.

A child showing off Sing a Song, a book from the festival
Covers for Joseph's Big Ride and Crown

The Case For A Children’s Book Festival

For Immigrant Children
Research shows that children in communities where English is not the primary language are at risk of missing early literacy skills and entering school at a deficit. These early deficits can have psychological, social, and economic consequences. The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival addresses this deficit.

For Black Children
Additionally, Black and African American children are less likely to encounter books that depict their own life experiences. This is a critical gap since children are better able to retain and recall plot and character information after reading books featuring characters that mirror themselves. The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival addresses this gap.

The Black is  Beautiful, Uh Huh! mural painted on the street

Festival Goals

  1. Celebrate Ashley Bryan’s legacy and the contribution of children’s book creators of the African Diaspora.
  2. Entertain, engage, educate, and empower through children’s literature.
  3. Build the home library of children by giving away picture books and chapter books.

Festival Impact

  1. Honor diversity and culture, while building community
  2. Teach intercultural competence
  3. Affirm identity and confidence
  4. Grow family literacy
  5. Increase health outcomes including resilience, acclimation and emotional intelligence
  6. Expose children to role models that look like them

We are proud to present this stunning collection of children’s books by Black authors and artists. Pay attention to our social media (Instagram and Facebook) to learn about our featured books, illustrators, and writers!

A child enjoying a book from the 2020 festival
Covers for Your Name is a Song and So Tall Within
Children reading books on a bench

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60 Cove Street
Portland, ME 04101

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