Books like Stitchin' and pullin' by Patricia McKissack

An African‑American family from Flint, Michigan, heads south to visit Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama, where the ordinary rhythms of their lives are disrupted by the events of the summer of 1963.

A bright‑eyed African‑American girl evades the dreaded combing and braiding ritual, discovering the joy and love that comes with caring for her hair in this playful rhyming picture book.

A book featuring a young boy who shares imaginative stories and is creative and mischievous.

Nine-year-old Grace uncovers the harsh reality of slavery and defies her masters, ultimately escaping with her family into the Dismal Swamp to join other fugitive slaves.

Chris Carves for Kwanzaa During Father's Layoff

A supernatural Southern Gothic tale for middle‑grade readers set in Alabama, blending history, family life, and magic in a vivid, country setting.

A supportive African American family encourages a confident girl to believe in herself, inspiring a younger relative to do the same.

In Bird, a young African American boy uses his art to navigate his brother’s drug addiction and untimely death, assisted by a supportive family friend.

A thirteen‑year‑old African‑American boy recounts how his family confronts anger, hope, abandonment, and fear when his father, who had temporarily left, returns home.

A touching picture story about a tiny boy named Sam who, though small, finds a special place in his family when his mother discovers a job in the kitchen that suits him perfectly.

A heart‑warming picture book in which Tanya stitches a family quilt from old clothing, weaving together memories and love across generations.

Quilting was one of the few forms of creative expression open to past generations of women. Within the acceptable confines of making something "useful," these women stitched rather than penned their stories. Other artistic avenues have opened, but the writers gathered in this unique collection still claim kinship with their quilting sisters by the use of quilts in their writing. Featuring works of Bobbie Ann Mason, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich, Alice MacGowan, and many others, Quilt Stories is a colorful literary album quilt composed of the unique blocks created and signed by the writers. More than twenty-five stories, poems, and plays featuring the making of quilts - written from 1845 to the present, mainly by American women - document an important pattern in women's literary history. Five thematic sections explore quilts as expressions of remembrance and meaning (Memory Blocks), of community and courtship (Double Wedding Ring), of struggle and change (Radical Rose), of mystery and murder (Wheel of Mystery), and of age and wisdom (Old Maid's Ramble). In her introduction, Cecilia Macheski notes that these stories encourage us "to see women's literary history as a giant timeless quilting bee, where the writers gather around a frame and trade stories, gossip, and love." Renouncing the "competitiveness of the patriarchal world," women writers have, in the imagery of the quilt, instead chosen "a model of cooperative and supportive creativity."

A picture‑book adventure that uses the numbers one through ten to show how a family shops, cooks, and shares a meal together, celebrating teamwork, family life, and simple kitchen fun.

A spirited 1932 story of a young girl who leaves her Alabama hometown of Gee's Bend to secure medicine for her ailing mother, weaving resilience, quilting craft, and community into her daring journey.

Evan discovers the joy of finding his own space when his mother maps out the eight corners of their crowded apartment—one for each family member—highlighting the importance of sharing, privacy, and family bonds.