Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass - by Dean Robbins (Hardcover)

About the Book

Imagines what it was like when Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass got together for a cup of tea and discussed their struggles for civil rights.

Book Synopsis

Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass chat over tea about their efforts to win rights for women and African Americans.

Some people had rights, while others had none.Why shouldn't they have them, too?Two friends, Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, get together for tea and conversation. They recount their similar stories fighting to win rights for women and African Americans. The premise of this particular exchange between the two is based on a statue in their hometown of Rochester, New York, which shows the two friends having tea.The text by award-winning writer Dean Robbins teaches about the fight for women's and African Americans' rights in an accessible, engaging manner for young children. Two Friends is beautifully illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls, the husband-and-wife team whose The Case for Loving received three starred reviews! Two Friends includes back matter with photos of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.

Review Quotes

Praise for Two Friends:

"A visually appealing primer on these civil rights reformers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Robbins deftly moves between [Anthony's] objectives and words to those of Douglass.... Young readers can picture two people of action and resolve and hopefully be equally inspired." -- Kirkus Reviews

"In remarkably economic prose, Robbins reveals the similarities in their childhoods and demonstrates the enormous impact these friends had on history.... Bold colors lend an upbeat feel to the illustrations, while layers of paint and mixed media create subtle texture and depth." -- Booklist

Praise for The Case for Loving by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls

* "Despite the gentle way this book unfolds, the language and images deal a blow to racist thinking and just might inspire the next generation of young civil rights activists." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Inspirational, never heavy-handed, and appropriate for just about everyone." -- Booklist, starred review

Praise for Dizzy by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Sean Qualls

* "Qualls's acrylic, collage, and pencil illustrations swing across the large pages with unique, jazzy rhythms, varying type sizes and colors, and playful perspectives, perfectly complementing the text." -- School Library Journal, starred review

* "Qualls is able to translate the story (and the music) into shapes and colors that undulate and stream across the pages with a beat and bounce of their own." -- Booklist, starred review

About the Author

Selina Alko has always been curious about different people and cultures, which stems, in part, from growing up with a Canadian mother and a Turkish father, who spoke seven languages and taught her to paint. Her art brims with optimism, experimentation, and a deep commitment to multiculturalism and human rights. She is the author of The Case for Loving, which she illustrated with her husband, Sean Qualls, and the co-illustrator, also with Sean, of Two Friends by Dean Robbins. She has written and illustrated several other acclaimed picture books, including Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama and B Is for Brooklyn. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family. Learn more at selinaalko.com.
Sean Qualls finds inspiration everywhere, from old buildings, nature, fairy tales, black memorabilia, and outsider art to cave paintings, African imagery, mythology, music, and his native Brooklyn. He is the co-illustrator, with his wife, Selina Alko, of the celebrated picture books Two Friends by Dean Robbins and The Case for Loving by Selina Alko. Other acclaimed picture books he has illustrated include Giant Steps to Change the World by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison and her son Slade, Dizzy by Jonah Winter, and Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his family. Visit him online at seanqualls.com.
Dean Robbins is a journalist and the author of the children's picture books Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing, and Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women's Right to Vote. His award-winning books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and have been praised in the New York Times and USA Today. Dean grew up idolizing Apollo astronauts and loved working with Alan Bean on The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon. Learn more at deanrobbins.net.