Anyone who has ever read a life changing story will understand the excitement of discovering a new book-spot. Be it a bookstore, a library, or a local book club, safe spaces dedicated to quality storytelling provide people with the security to question and to explore their worlds. “The Book Itch” tells the story of The National Memorial African Bookstore, a bookshop born from the passion and dedication of Lewis Henri Michaux. He turned his love for books into a resource for his community in Harlem, New York, providing a refuge for anyone looking to feed their mind and soul. Michaux’s bookstore remained a draw for many, including artists of the Harlem Renaissance and political activists of the Civil Rights movement. Michaux’s story was memorialized in a 2015 children’s book by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
Nelson discovered the full scope of her great uncle’s legacy while researching her family’s ancestry. In her fictionalized account, a young Louie, representing real life counterpart Lewis Michaux, Jr., grows up influenced by his father’s bookstore. Louie meets many respected leaders in the Harlem Square bookstore, learns to think for himself, and witnesses the positive outcomes of community action. The keeper of his father’s story, Louie’s early view of the world is cultivated in a safe and empowering space. Nelson’s choice to make Louie the story’s main narrator grants permission for young readers to enter the story with their own sense of wonder and curiosity.
Writer: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Illustrator: R Gregory Christie
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Audience: Children’s Picture Book, Grades 2 – 4
