Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller

“Augusta Braxton Baker grew up to be a master storyteller. But before that she was an amazing story listener,” begins this glowing account of legendary storytelling librarian Baker (1911–1998). Starting with her Baltimore childhood, where her grandmother “shaped incredible worlds and passed them down,” McDaniel’s telling highlights Baker’s route to helping “other people become better listeners.” Following teacher’s college, Baker becomes a children’s librarian at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. Though many of the Harlem branch’s youngest patrons are Black—among them James Baldwin and Audre Lorde—the library’s books featuring Black characters are “JUST PLAIN WRONG.” Wanting “Black children to have heroes that rose up and looked, talked, and shined bright,” she creates a collection to that end, disseminates her book lists widely, and spends her career promoting the storytelling she has loved since childhood. Harrison’s intricate mixed-media collages employ shifting scale to bring to life this vital history of a vital figure. An author’s note follows. Ages 5–8. (Jan.)