From beloved African American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston comes a moving adaptation by National Book Award winner and #1New York Timesbestselling author ofHow to Be an AntiracistandAntiracist Baby, Ibram X. Kendi.Magnolia Flowerfollows a young Afro Indigenous girl who longs for freedom and is gorgeously illustrated by Loveis Wise (The People Remember,Ablaze with Color).

Born to parents who fled slavery and the Trail of Tears, Magnolia Flower is a girl with a vibrant spirit. Not to be deterred by rigid ways of the world, she longs to connect with others, who too long for freedom. She finds this in a young man of letters who her father disapproves of. In her quest to be free, Magnolia must make a choice and set off on a journey that will prove just how brave one can be when leading with one’s heart.

The acclaimed writer of several American classics, Zora Neale Hurston wrote this stirring folktale brimming with poetic prose, culture, and history. It was first published as a short story inThe Spokesmanin 1925 and later in her collectionHitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick(2020).

Tenderly retold by #1New York Timesbestselling and National Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi,Magnolia Floweris a story of a transformative and radical devotion between generations of Indigenous and Black people in America. With breathtaking illustrations by Loveis Wise, this picture book reminds us that there is no force strong enough to stop love.

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. An author of four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine, 1934;Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937;Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; andSeraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935, andTell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She attended Howard University, Barnard College and Columbia University, and was a graduate of Barnard College in 1927. She was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, and grew up in Eatonville, Florida. She died in Fort Pierce, in 1960. In 1973, Alice Walker had a headstone placed at her gravesite with this epitaph: “Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South.”

Loveis Wiseis an illustrator and designer from Washington, DC. They are currently based in Los Angeles and their work often speaks to themes of joy and liberation. Their work can be found through theNew Yorker, Google, Adobe, and theNew York Times. You can find them online at www.loveiswise.com.

Ibram X. Kendiis a National Book Award-winning and #1New York Timesbestselling author. His books includeAntiracist Baby; Goodnight Racism; How to Be an Antiracist;andHow to Raise an Antiracist.Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. In 2020,Timemagazine named Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has also been awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship.

• Publisher:HarperCollins (September 6, 2022)
• Language :English
• Hardcover :40 pages
• ISBN-10 :0063098318
• ISBN-13 :9780063098312
• Reading age :4 – 8 years
• Grade level :Preschool – 3
• Item Weight:1 pound