This was a beautiful story of this African based story, the blackbird was beautiful and the other birds wanted him to share his colors ( )

Nicely done. Great little book to incorporate the beauty of black. ( )

This African Folktale is the story of the colorful birds of Africa who think that Blackbird is the most beautiful bird of Africa and they ask him to decorate them with some of his "blackening brew." ( )

Bryan, Ashley. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Antheneum Books, 2003.

The bright and beautiful cut out patterns of the birds makes it easy to understand why this book won the Corretta Scott King illustrator award in 2004. In the Beautiful Blackbird, the colorful birds of Africa are called to a meeting where their leader, Ringdove asks the question, “Who is the most beautiful?” To which the colorful birds respond, “Blackbird is the most beautiful one.” Ringdove and the colorful birds ask Blackbird to color them black, so they’d be like him. Although Blackbird explains that it is not what is on the outside, but what is on the inside that really matters. Blackbird agrees to add black markings to each bird. In the end, the colorful birds are proud of their markings and realize their own beauty and worth. With their black markings, they sing, “Black is beautiful.” This is a wonderful story, and the theme is one which many parents try to teach their children, “it is what’s on the inside that counts.” The colorful and imaginative birds as well as the theme make this book appealing to young and old alike. Because of the sound devices used in this sing-song story and the bright colors and simple language, I would recommend this book for young children through the second grade. ( )

Multicolored birds dance and sing odes to the blackbird in this Zambian folktale adaptation of how the birds get their distinctive black markings. Illustrations with vibrant-colored paper cutouts show the colored birds’ reverence and admiration for the blackbird’s beauty. ( )