H is for Harlem

In September of 2022, I reviewed a book called H is for Harlem by Dinah Johnson (Christy Ottaviano books, 2022, 48 pages) and said that I was “ready to hop on the train and take a trip to Harlem.”  I had thought I knew a little about this New York City neighborhood and the Harlem Renaissance, but this book showed me that there were many interesting people and places there that I knew nothing about. It took me almost three years, but this summer I finally did got to travel there and visit a few of those places.  The list below shows each site I visited, accompanied by a page from this book.

I kept discovering more and more amazing children’s books about Harlem, so this post is a little heavier on the book lists than most. If you’re planning to visit Harlem with kids, read some of these books beforehand to enhance your trip.

H is for Harlem

My trip really just scratched the surface of this Manhattan neighborhood which has a long history, going back to when the Wecquaesgeek inhabited land that would eventually be taken over by the Dutch, who called it Haarlem. Over the years it’s been home to many groups, including Jewish and Italian immigrants, but it’s probably best known for the Harlem Renaissance, which, from just after World War I until the Great Depression, produced an amazing who’s who of writers, musicians, artists, and performers.  

Harlem is located in northern Manhattan, with a few different definitions of its boundaries. I visited Central Harlem, bounded by Central Park North, Fifth Avenue, Edgecombe Avenue, and 155th Street. There’s also East Harlem, which is sometimes called Spanish Harlem, and West Harlem, which includes Manhattanville, Sugar Hill, and Morningside Heights.

Books to Read

Uptown by Bryan Collier (Henry Holt, 2000, 32 pages). This book is now 25 years old, but it still really captures the vibe of Harlem with its beautiful collage illustrations that are like snapshots of people and places in Harlem where Collier made his home (and as near as I can tell, still does).

Harlem at Four by Dr. Michael Datcher, illustrated by Frank Morrison (Random House Studio, 2023, 48 pages).  Dr. Datcher usually writes books for adults, but his four-year-old daughter, Harlem, inspired him to write this two-part picture book.  Part one celebrates his days with Harlem in New York City, enjoying art and music by Black artists.  The second part is about the fourth year of the twentieth century (1904), when Philip A. Payton, Jr. started the Afro-American Realty Company that bought homes in Harlem and rented them to “brownstone-colored families,” starting the Harlem chapter of the Great Migration that eventually led to the Harlem Renaissance..

One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes (Bloomsbury, 2021, 128 pages) and its follow-up Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance (Bloomsbury, 2021, 144 pages).  Nikki Grimes wrote her own poems based on the works of Harlem Renaissance poets in these two volumes. They not only serve as amazing introductions to all the poets, but showcase the talents of many contemporary Black artists with the illustrations that accompany the poems.  The introductions and back matter offer more information about the Harlem Renaissance and the poets who were part of it.

Harlem Honey by Tamron Hall, illustrated by Ebony Glenn (HarperCollins, 2025, 40 pages). This new book by journalist Tamron Hall tells the story of a boy who’s recently moved from Texas to Harlem. When he discovers neighbors raising bees on the roof, he makes a new friend and gets introduced to Sylvia’s, the Apollo Theater, and other Harlem landmarks. The story plus the additional information at the end make this a good introduction to Harlem for younger elementary kids.

Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill, foreword by Nikki Giovanni (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2004, 160 pages). This National Book Award finalist gives a pretty complete history of the Harlem Renaissance in a format that can be read cover-to-cover or browsed through for topics of interest.  Readers in middle school and high school will get a lot of background that would be useful to know before visiting Harlem.

I is for Impact Farm

This page of the book mentions Impact Farm and Harlem Grown as groups that teach kids about urban farming. I can’t find any information about Impact Farm, and when I Google it, I get results for Harlem Grown.  I found Harlem Grown on my visit, and strolled around.  Their gardens were flourishing, and they also have a chicken coop and a cool little round library where kids and their caregivers can sit and read together about farming and cooking.  Check out their website for events and free farm stands around the city.

Books to Read  

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illustrated by Jessie Hartland (Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2020, 40 pages). Tony Hillery tells how his volunteer work at P.S. 175 led to him turning the vacant lot across the street into Harlem Grown.  He’s been helped by many others, and some of their work is described in the sequel, Saturdays at Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illustrated by Jessie Hartland (Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2024, 48 pages). It shows the chicken coop and the library, as well as the garden! Both of these are great introductions that will appeal to preschool and up, and there’s lots of back matter to give older readers additional information.

J is for National Jazz Museum in Harlem

I’m the first to admit that I know next to nothing about jazz, but I still enjoyed this small museum about one of Harlem’s best-known musical genres.  Duke Ellington’s piano is front and center, which is pretty cool, and there’s a lot of information about the impact of Latinx musicians from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other places on jazz.  There’s also a fun interactive exhibit where you can try your hand at playing piano with some of the greats, but I knew my limitations.

Books to read

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill, illustrated by Francis Vallejo (Candlewick, 2017, 66 pages). Poems in the voices of jazz musicians, observers, and photographer Art Kane tell the story of Kane’s idea to photograph 57 jazz artists in front of a Harlem brownstone on August 12, 1958, which was published in Esquire magazine as A Great Day in Harlem. A bunch of local kids lined up to be in the front row of the photo. Biographies of all the musicians in the photo at the end of the book bring their stories to life and will enhance the visit to the Jazz Museum.

¡Mambo Mucho Mambo!: The Dance That Crossed Color Lines by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick, 2021, 40 pages) shows how Latin jazz, starting in Spanish Harlem and later moving to the Palladium, brought together dancers from all different neighborhoods and created a new type of dancing that led to greater integration of dance clubs.

L is for Liberation Bookstore

The bookstores listed in H Is for Harlem include Liberation Bookstore, run by Una Mulzac from 1967 to 2007, National Memorial African Bookstore, Lewis H. Michaux’s bookstore that was on 7th Avenue from 1932-1968 before moving to West 125th Street until it closed in 1974, and Hue-Man Bookstore, whose owner, Marva Allen, closed the doors in 2012 after a decade in business (although Hue-Man still has an online presence as Huemanbooks and partners with Ground Central Coffee for events).

If you want a taste of these activist former bookstores, I recommend stopping by Revolution Books.  Not only do they have an excellent selection of interesting books to educate readers of all ages about various leftist causes, but it was probably the friendliest place I found in Harlem.  There were several volunteers hanging out, and they were interested to hear what brought me there, and eager to talk to me about Communism, specifically Bob Avakian and his Revolutionary Communist Party.  I very much enjoyed our conversation and was persuaded to buy a $5.00 paperback about Avakian.

Books to read

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Carolrhoda, 2015, 32 pages). Nelson tells the story of her great-uncle Lewis Michaux and his National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem. She wrote a longer version for young adults called No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller (Carolrhoda, 2012, 192 pages), which unfortunately looks to be out of print.

R is for restaurants

The two restaurants listed in the book are Sylvia’s and the Red Rooster.  Sylvia Woods bought Johnson’s Luncheonette, where she was working as a waitress, in 1962, and turned it into a soul food restaurant that’s fed ordinary folks and celebrities like Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, and Presidents Clinton and Obama. 

I went to Sylvia’s only because it opened an hour earlier and fit my schedule better, but I was so glad I did!  There’s a nice lunch menu with reasonable prices and good-sized portions.  I ordered the smothered chicken leg with a side of macaroni and cheese, which was delivered to my table in about two minutes by my gracious and attentive server.  The chicken, lightly fried and smothered in gravy, was tenderly slipping off the bone, and the macaroni was a cheesy marvel with just the right amount of crustiness on top.  As if this weren’t enough, I also got two mini loaves of warm cornbread with butter.  There are photos of celebrities who have dined at Sylvia’s adorning the walls, but the atmosphere is very down-to-earth and homey. 

I did walk by the Red Rooster, which is just a couple of doors down, and the menu there looked delicious, if a bit more sophisticated.  A little research revealed that it’s better known for its celebrity head chef Marcus Samuelsson than for the historical significance of Sylvia’s.  The name is taken from a more historical restaurant, which I’m guessing is what’s referenced in the book, but I couldn’t find much about it..  

Book to read

Sylvia’s Family Soul Food Cookbook: From Hemingway, South Carolina to Harlem by Sylvia Woods (William Morrow, 1999, 288 pages). I haven’t tried any of the recipes, but I did read the 66-page introduction, which gave me a whole new appreciation for Sylvia Woods and her restaurant. Learning about her childhood in Hemingway, South Carolina helped me to understand not only where her incredible menu came from, but also the strong women and hard work that were influential in her success. Her maternal grandfather was lynched when her mother was a baby, and her own father died as a result of World War I gassing when Sylvia was three days old, but her mom and grandmother worked hard, persevered, and passed along a love of food to nurture both body and soul that you can still taste at the restaurant today.

S is for Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

This is where I started my day, and it was a perfect first stop.  Arturo Schomburg grew up in Puerto Rico with a Black mother and a white father. When one of his elementary school teachers claimed that Black people had no history, Schomburg embarked on a lifelong quest to disprove this. He accumulated an amazing collection of books and papers that was eventually acquired by the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library.  Librarian Ernestine Rose sought to uplift and preserve the Black and Latinx cultures of the 135th Street library where she worked and was a key player in purchasing Schomburg’s collection for this library, which later became known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

I enjoyed taking in all the exhibits, particularly the handwritten manuscripts from such writers as Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X.  Seeing Baldwin’s scrawled outline for Go Tell It On the Mountain or Angelou’s handwritten page with lots of words crossed out made them seem more human, struggling to express themselves like the rest of us.  I accidentally wound up behind a touring group of Black teens, and got to enjoy hearing their older tour guide proudly telling them about the achievements of the people celebrated in the exhibits.

Books to read

There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2023, 56 pages). Inspired by a photo of writers Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka dancing together at a 1991 party honoring Langston Hughes held at the Schomburg Library, this is an exuberant celebration of Black writers inspired by Hughes. I just reread this book and felt like my visit to Harlem and the Schomburg really enhanced my understanding of it versus my first reading in 2023.

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Candlewick, 2017, 48 pages). I hadn’t read this book in eight years, and I forgot what a masterpiece it is, with poetry and oil paintings describing both Arturo Schomburg’s life and many of the people he studied.  His painstaking research not only preserved an enormous amount of American Black history, but traced the African roots of such men as John James Audubon and Ludwig van Beethoven.  It may be a little over the heads of younger kids, but older elementary and middle school readers will gain a greater appreciation of the Schomburg Center if they can get their hands on this book ahead of their visit.

X is for Malcolm X Boulevard

Almost all my Harlem visits took place on Malcolm X Boulevard.  The part of Sixth Avenue north of Central Park was named Lenox Avenue in 1887 to honor philanthropist James Lenox.  100 years later, it was co-named Malcolm X Boulevard in honor of Black activist who lived and worked in Harlem for many years, and was assassinated there in 1964.. The Shabazz Center in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X made his final speech, is an educational center committed to carrying on the work of Malcolm X and his wife Betty Shabazz.

Books to read

Malcolm Lives!: The Official Biography of Malcolm X for Young Readers by Ibram X. Kendi (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2025, 400 pages). This new book by scholar and activist Kendi has gotten four starred reviews and is on my TBR list. It’s recommended for grades 5 and up.

Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins (Amistad, 2003, 40 pages). Walter Dean Myers won Coretta Scott King honor for his 1993 young adult biography Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (Scholastic, 1993). A decade later, he wrote this picture book, a well-written, straightforward introduction to Malcolm X’s life, perfect for older elementary or middle school kids.

Still on my bucket list

A is for Apollo Theater. I planned to go to Amateur Night on this trip, but I found out right before I left that the Apollo closed in June for a year of renovations.

D is for Dance Theatre of Harlem. I hope to catch a performance someday, either in NYC or on tour.

F is for Figure Skating in Harlem. I thought about going to their spring showcase, but it’s a tough time for me to get to New York. Maybe when I retire….

G is for Harlem Globetrotters. They do come to Springfield, Massachusetts, where I teach. I think my students might appreciate that performance more than I would!

M is for Studio Museum in Harlem. Also closed for renovations, and reopening in fall, 2025.

T is for Harriet Tubman. The statue of Harriet Tubman is about a mile from where I spent most of my day. Had it not been nearly 100 degrees outside, I would probably have walked over to see it.