Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker

Summary of Book

Learn about the civil rights activist Ella Baker in this inspiring picture book from Sibert Honor winner Patricia Hruby Powell and Caldecott Honor winner R. Gregory Christie.

“What do you hope to accomplish?” asked Ella Baker’s granddaddy when she was still a child.
Her mother provided the answer: “Lift as you climb.”

Long before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, Ella Baker worked to lift others up by fighting racial injustice and empowering poor African Americans to stand up for their rights. Her dedication and grassroots work in many communities made her a valuable ally for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement. In the 1960s she worked to register voters and organize sit-ins, and she became a teacher and mentor to many young activists.

Caldecott Honor winner R. Gregory Christie’s powerful pictures pair with Patricia Hruby Powell’s poignant words to paint a vivid portrait of the fight for the freedom of the human spirit.

Author Biography

Patricia Hruby Powell is the author of Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, which earned five starred reviews and won a Robert F. Sibert Nonfiction Honor, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, Boston Globe–Horn Book Nonfiction Honor, and Parent’s Choice Gold for Poetry. She is also the author of the YA documentary novel Loving Vs. Virginia, which was an Indie Next Pick; Struttin’ With Some Barbecue, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book; and Lift as You Climb, a picture book biography of Ella Baker. Visit her at TalesforAllAges.com.

Illustrator Biography

R. Gregory Christie received a Caldecott Honor for his illustrations in Freedom in Congo Square, written by Carole Boston Weatherford. He is a three-time recipient of The New York Times’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year Award, a six-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor Award in Illustration, and a winner of the Boston Globe­–Horn Book Award, the NAACP’s Image Award, and the Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award from the Museum of Tolerance. Visit Mr. Christie’s website at Gas-Art.com.