Uptown

• Title: Uptown
• Author: Bryan Collier
• Illustrator: Bryan Collier
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
• Publication year: 2000
• Brief Summary: From Amazon-“Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier discovers the vibrant world of Harlem, New York, as seen through the eyes of a little boy”
• Ideas for using this book in classroom or library – Just as with Harlem, this book could be used in history curriculum while students are learning about The Great Migration or in music, while children are learning the history of jazz. Not only that, but this is a great book for African American children to see themselves in.
• Whatever additional notes you’d like to add about this book and why you liked or didn’t like it – Collier’s illustrations that are made of collage give patchworks of Harlem throughout the book. My favorite set of illustrations are of jazz players playing in a dimly lit room with a big sign in front saying Lenox.