Download high-resolution image Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00

Shirley Chisholm Dared

The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress

Illustrated by April Harrison
Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00
Discover the inspiring story of the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president in this picture book biography from a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning illustrator.

Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her grandparents' farm in Barbados, she returns home to Brooklyn and immediately makes herself known. Shirley kicks butt in school; she breaks her mother's curfew; she plays jazz piano instead of classical. And as a young adult, she fights against the injustice she sees around her, against women and black people. Soon she is running for state assembly...and winning in a landslide. Three years later, she is on the campaign trail again, as the first black woman to run for Congress. Her slogan? "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed!" Does she win? You bet she does.
Alicia D. Williams's debut, the middle-grade novel Genesis Begins Again, received a Newbery Honor and was a Kirkus Prize nominee and a Morris Award finalist. It also won the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Author Award. Alicia is a graduate of the MFA program at Hamline University. An oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she also teaches kindergarten. Learn more at aliciadwilliams.com. View titles by Alicia D. Williams
April Harrison is an award-winning children's book illustrator. She received the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award for Patricia C. McKissack's final picture book, What Is Given from the Heart, which received four starred reviews and which the New York Times Book Review called an "exquisite story of generosity." She also received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for Me and the Boss. April illustrated Alicia D. William's Shirley Chisholm Dared, as well as Tricia Elam Walker's Nana Akua Goes to School, which also received four starred reviews. Her work appears in the public collections of Vanderbilt University, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, the Atlanta Housing Authority, and the Erskine University Museum and in many private collections. April lives in South Carolina. Visit her at april-harrison.com. View titles by April Harrison
  • SELECTION | 2022
    Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices
“An engaging account of Chisolm’s life…. This one is a cut above the rest." --School Library Journal

"A multilayered, folk art sensibility, featuring textures, angles, and expressive figures of differing skin tones. A solid primer on a Black political visionary.” --Publishers Weekly

"Created with acrylics and mixed-media collage, Harrison’s striking illustrations are notable for her use of line, color, and pattern. A handsome picture-book biography.–-Booklist

A timely and inspiring biography of a great woman who broke barriers and used her voice to elevate those around her.” --Kirkus

“Root[s] Chisholm in scene after scene as a pillar of self-assurance, equally unfazed by the acclaim, indifference, or opposition of the people around her.” --The Bulletin

About

Discover the inspiring story of the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president in this picture book biography from a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning illustrator.

Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her grandparents' farm in Barbados, she returns home to Brooklyn and immediately makes herself known. Shirley kicks butt in school; she breaks her mother's curfew; she plays jazz piano instead of classical. And as a young adult, she fights against the injustice she sees around her, against women and black people. Soon she is running for state assembly...and winning in a landslide. Three years later, she is on the campaign trail again, as the first black woman to run for Congress. Her slogan? "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed!" Does she win? You bet she does.

Author

Alicia D. Williams's debut, the middle-grade novel Genesis Begins Again, received a Newbery Honor and was a Kirkus Prize nominee and a Morris Award finalist. It also won the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Author Award. Alicia is a graduate of the MFA program at Hamline University. An oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she also teaches kindergarten. Learn more at aliciadwilliams.com. View titles by Alicia D. Williams
April Harrison is an award-winning children's book illustrator. She received the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award for Patricia C. McKissack's final picture book, What Is Given from the Heart, which received four starred reviews and which the New York Times Book Review called an "exquisite story of generosity." She also received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for Me and the Boss. April illustrated Alicia D. William's Shirley Chisholm Dared, as well as Tricia Elam Walker's Nana Akua Goes to School, which also received four starred reviews. Her work appears in the public collections of Vanderbilt University, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, the Atlanta Housing Authority, and the Erskine University Museum and in many private collections. April lives in South Carolina. Visit her at april-harrison.com. View titles by April Harrison

Awards

  • SELECTION | 2022
    Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices

Praise

“An engaging account of Chisolm’s life…. This one is a cut above the rest." --School Library Journal

"A multilayered, folk art sensibility, featuring textures, angles, and expressive figures of differing skin tones. A solid primer on a Black political visionary.” --Publishers Weekly

"Created with acrylics and mixed-media collage, Harrison’s striking illustrations are notable for her use of line, color, and pattern. A handsome picture-book biography.–-Booklist

A timely and inspiring biography of a great woman who broke barriers and used her voice to elevate those around her.” --Kirkus

“Root[s] Chisholm in scene after scene as a pillar of self-assurance, equally unfazed by the acclaim, indifference, or opposition of the people around her.” --The Bulletin

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

On Monday, June 10th, Penguin Random House Education and DK Learning co-hosted a Reading with Purpose Summit Event in collaboration with Molly Ness, PhD. The event took place at Penguin Random House’s NYC headquarters and included sessions featuring leading education experts and a lunchtime author panel. The in-person professional learning event was built to show

Read more

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

Books for Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, which recognizes the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields. Beginning as “Women’s History Week,” a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California in 1978, the movement spread across the country as other communities initiated their own Women’s History Week celebrations the following year.

Read more

Books for Black History Month

Join Penguin Random House in celebrating the contributions of Black Authors, Creators and Educators all year long. In honor of Black History Month, we are highlighting stories that reaffirm the youth, innocence, and humanity of Black children to instill confidence in them every day. Penguin Random House remains committed to supporting the next generation of Black

Read more