Beautiful Blackbird

A picture book and Coretta Scott King Award winner by writer and illustrator Ashley Bryan. The colors are stimulating and radiant, which gives life to the illustrations. Beautiful Blackbird tells the story of a bird who is admired for his black color by all the other birds. They call him the most beautiful bird and say, “black is beautiful.” A bird named Ringdove asks Blackbird to paint him black so he can be as beautiful as him. Blackbird tells Ringdove that it’s not what’s on the outside that makes one who they are, but what’s on the inside. Those who enjoy Ashley Bryan may like to read Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves: Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life, which also received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor award.

Beautiful Blackbird is an excellent picture book for elementary students working in a social studies curriculum to connect the differences between cultures. Similarly, teachers in the fine arts studies can use this book as a starting point for studying the combination of colors and contexts.

Bryan, A. (2011). Beautiful Blackbird. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.