These Hands - Paperback

by Margaret H. Mason (Author), Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Joseph's grandpa could do almost anything with his hands. He could play the piano, throw a curveball, and tie a triple bowline knot in three seconds flat. But in the 1950s and 60s, he could not bake bread at the Wonder Bread factory. Factory bosses said white people would not want to eat bread touched by the hands of the African Americans who worked there.

In this powerful intergenerational story, Joseph learns that people joined their hands together to fight discrimination so that one day, their hands--Joseph's hands--could do anything at all in this whole wide world.

Author Biography

Margaret H. Mason learned about the Detroit Wonder Bread factory's discriminatory policies from an old friend and Bakers Union stalwart. She lives in Ferndale, Michigan.Visit her website at www.margarethmason.com.

The illustrator of more than sixty children's books, Floyd Cooper is a past recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and a four-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor Award. He lives in Pennsylvania with his family. Visit his website at www.floydcooper.com.