The Book Itch
Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In the 1930s, Lewis's dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch—a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore.
And as far as Lewis Michaux Jr. could tell, his father's bookstore was one of a kind. People from all over came to visit the store, even famous people—Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes, to name a few. In his father's bookstore people bought and read books, and they also learned from each other. People swapped and traded ideas and talked about how things could change. They came together here all because of his father's book itch. Read the story of how Lewis Michaux Sr. and his bookstore fostered new ideas and helped people stand up for what they believed in.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nelson and Christie bring the story of Harlem's storied National Memorial African Bookstore to picture book readers in this companion to their 2012 YA collaboration, No Crystal Stair. The shop was opened in the 1930s by Nelson's great-uncle, Lewis Michaux, who "started out with five books... and a mission." Writing in the voice of Michaux's admiring son, Nelson illuminates Lewis's generosity (he invited those who couldn't afford books into his shop to read) and his fervent belief in the power of words and books to change lives. Michaux's love of words comes through in his catchy aphorisms and sales pitches ("Knowledge is power. You need it every hour. Read a book!"), which appear throughout, as well as his nickname for the shop, "The House of Common Sense and Home of Proper Propaganda." Christie's paintings powerfully contrast the idea of the bookstore as a refuge with the tensions of the day, particularly during a section of the book about Michaux's friendship with Malcolm X and his anguish following the activist's assassination. It's an emotive tribute to Michaux's personal and professional legacy. Ages 7 10.
