African Voices and the Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center will host a free book celebration for Javaka Steptoe, the illustrator of Amiri and Odette, a re-telling of the Swan Lake love story written by Walter Dean Myers.

The celebration will offer activities and entertainment for the whole family including arts and crafts, a dance performance choreographed by Melvin Black and storytelling presentations by Tammy Hall and Javaka Steptoe.

SAVE THE DATE:

March 29, 2009, 2 pm-4:30 pm

Book Celebration for Javaka Steptoe, Amiri & Odette

Embora Wellness & Movement Studio

900 Fulton Street (Bet. Waverly & Washington Aves.)

C train to Clinton and Washington

For information call: 347 884-7924 or 212 865-2982

In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). Lee & Low Books 2001, Paperback, 32 pages, $4.67

The Jones Family Express

Javaka Steptoe. Lee & Low Books 2005, Paperback, 40 pages, $7.95

Sweet, Sweet Baby!

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). Cartwheel 2005, Rag Book, 4 pages, $9.75

Rain Play

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 2008, Hardcover, 32 pages, $6.99

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). Clarion Books 2004, Hardcover, 32 pages, $8.76

Do You Know What I’ll Do?

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). HarperCollins 2000, Hardcover, 32 pages, $10.37

A Pocketful of Poems

Javaka Steptoe (Illustrator). Clarion Books 2001, Hardcover, 32 pages, $7.94

From an author who adopted an African name as an adult, comes the most all-inclusive book of African names.

THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES: 5,000+ Common and Uncommon Names from the African Continent (Health Communications, Inc., February 2009) by Askhari Hodari, Ph.D., offers readers names organized by theme from 37 countries and at least 70 different ethnolinguistic groups. Destined to become a classic keepsake, THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES shares in depth insight about the spiritual, social, and political importance of names from Angola to Zimbabwe.  The most far-reaching book on the subject, this timely, informative resource guide vibrates with the culture of Africa and encourages Blacks across the world to affirm their African origins by selecting African names.

Askhari Hodari, Ph.D., an educator and writer, has studied and collected African names for more than two decades. She has also performed and participated in countless naming ceremonies in the United States and abroad.  She is the author of Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs (Broadway Books, October 2009).

The African Book of Names

Askhari Johnson Hodari. HCI 2009, Paperback, 343 pages, $5.65