Most Popular Books by Brian Pinkney

Owen loves playing ball. But it doesn't always "love" him back. And after a particularly disastrous day on the field, Owen is benched. He is feeling so low that he doesn't even notice the ball rolling through a hole in the fence until it's gotten away. In his effort to get it back, he discovers that he has more skills than he realizes.

A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2019! Find out what happens when a boy who wants a puppy gets a truck instead in this simple and sweet picture book from Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney. Vroom…beep…bark! Carter wants a puppy, but he gets a truck instead. So he pets it, puts a leash around it, and takes it to the park. But the truck won’t sit still! What will Carter do with his rascally Puppy Truck?

With just two sticks and lots of imagination and energy, Max fills his urban neighborhood with music in this classic book. Full color.

After an encounter with a sparrow, Henry finds he is able to fly just like his favorite comic book hero HawkMan.

"A powerful celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., set against the last few months of his life and written in verse" ( School Library Journal). Martin Rising is a stunning, poetic presentation of the final months of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life—told in a rich embroidery of visions, color, musical cadence, deep emotion, and multiple layers of meaning. Against a backdrop of the sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee, the book builds to its rousing crescendo as King delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech—where his life's commitment to peaceful activism and his dream of equality ascend to their highest peak. The Pinkneys' powerful and spiritual look at King's legacy celebrates the courage and moral conviction of a man who changed the course of history forever. And even in the face of searing tragedy, he continues to inspire, transform, and elevate all of us who share his dream. Praise for Martin Rising A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year "Unique and remarkable." — Publishers Weekly, starred review "Each poem trembles under the weight of the story it tells . . . Martin Rising packs an emotional wallop and, in perfect homage, soars when read aloud." — Booklist, starred review

An illustrated version of the traditional folk song in which a father promises the world to his restless baby daughter.

Everyone gives Jojo advice on how to perform in order to earn her yellow belt in tae kwon do class, but in the end she figures it out for herself.

Encourages children to explore their own faces, as an African American baby boy discovers the unique features that make his face so special.

Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B. Little relate their Mississippi family's struggles and triumphs from 1927 to 1968 while struggling as sharecroppers, living under Jim Crow, and fighting for Civil Rights.

Thumbelina is no bigger than your thumb! Thumbelina is content to spend her days rowing in a boat made from a tulip petal and sleeping in a cradle made from a polished walnut shell. Then one horrible night a toad kidnaps her, and she is tossed from one wretched adventure to another. Will Thumbelina be forced to marry the toad's son or spend her days deep underground with a rich mole? Only her steadfast kindness and bravery and the help of some loyal friends will lead Thumbelina to true love. Two-time Caldecott Honor artist Brian Pinkney's adaptation of the classic tale vividly captures the dramatic journey and quiet strength of Hans Christian Andersen's tiny heroine.

A retelling of the traditional tale from the French West Indies in which two friends, Clement and Hippolyt, encounter love, zombies, and danger on the island of Martinique.