By Nikki Giovanni, Darwin Henderson
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

"When Rainbows Laugh" by Nikki Giovanni.
"Painting, Poetry and Puppetry" by Darwin Henderson.
Catalog Design by Rita Marshall.
20 Illustrations, Paper, 32 pages.
1,000 copies, First Edition.

From "Acknowledgments," by H. Nichols B. Clark:
"Anyone who has met Ashley Bryan will attest that their day has been immeasurably brightened by this encounter. He has touched young and old in so many ways, and his ability to get audiences to chant, stomp, and sing poetry is truly legendary. Ashley's art is the embodiment of a gesamkunstwerk - where the image, the word, and the music of the word all come to the fore."

Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Painter and Poet: The Wonderful World of Ashley Bryan
July 23, 2002 - November 6, 2005 Exhibition Poster

By George David Weiss and Bob Thiele
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Was $18.99, now $8.00!
What simpler way could there be to express to children the beauty and the harmony in the world around them than through the lyrics of this song by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, made famous by the great Louis Armstrong? And what better visual accompaniment than the bright colorful artwork by award-winning Ashley Bryan depicting children of many backgrounds (and Louis Armstrong himself) performing a puppet show that brings the lyrics to life. Here is a book of brightness, wonder, and hope to be shared by all.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Long ago, Blackbird was voted the most beautiful bird in the forest. The other birds, who are colored red, yellow, blue, and green, are so envious that they beg Blackbird to paint their feathers with a touch of black so they can be beautiful too. Although Blackbird warns them that true beauty comes from within, the other birds persist and soon each is given a ring of black around their neck or a dot of black on their wings - markings that detail birds to this day. Coretta Scott King Award winner Ashley Bryan\'s adaptation of a tale from the Ila-speaking people of Zambia resonates both with rhythm and the tale\'s universal meanings - appreciating one\'s heritage and discovering the beauty within. His cut-paper artwork is a joy.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Why an alphabet book of African American poets? Simply as a way of presenting the work of many poets, poets who write for adults as well as children, in a form that both children and adults can enjoy. Though this is not an alphabet book in the traditional sense, it is an A to Z look at twenty-five poems and one African American spiritual selected by Ashley Bryan from a wide range of African American poets. His selections are, for the most part, not complete poems, but fragments - samples that are complete in their own way, and that inspired him to create pictures that capture the essence of the poetry in another form. His marvelous paintings, in tempera and gouache, are his salute to the twenty-five poets whose works are included. Well known for his storytelling, his picture books, his own poetry, and for his lectures on African American poetry, Ashley Bryan here gives readers of all ages a chance to share the joy he has experienced in the work of some of the poets he especially enjoys.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

In stories representing four distinct African cultures, Ashley Bryan captures the very essence of African storytelling. From the clever mongoose who outwits the foolish lion to the jackal who learns that the hare, though smaller than he is, may possess greater wisdom, the characters in these stories go about their business with spirit and humor. As they do, they bring about - and celebrate - the triumph of common sense over superior strength.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Come gather round, young and old, and hear these stories from Africa, retold and illustrated by the incomparable Ashley Bryan. The fourteen stories in this collection are some of his favorites, previously published in The Ox of the Wonderful Horns; Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum; and Lion and the Ostrich Chicks. Retold with rich, musical narration, and illustrated with Mr. Bryan's distinctive paintings, these tales are full of fun and magic and a few lessons to be learned. They are tales of tricksters, chieftains, and both wise and foolish creatures. You will learn why Frog and Snake never play together, or why Bush Cow and Elephant are bad friends, or of the problems that a husband has because he likes to count spoonfuls. Although the stories come from many parts of Africa, they are full of the universal human spirit, to be shared and treasured for every generation, uh-huh.

By James Berry
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

In A Nest Full of Stars, James Berry will take you on a memorable trip through all the startling, humorous, sad, happy, painful, and joyful experiences of growing up. Here are birthdays and fireworks, quarrels and making up, and every sort of mood you can imagine. Here are the hills and valleys of friendships and family life. Here is a boy on a train, trying to make all the adults look at their watches. Here is a girl discovering the miracle of her hen's hidden nest of eggs and seeing it change into "a mighty nest full of stars." Most of all, here are poems that shake our senses and awaken us to the magic and mysteries all around.

By Langston Hughes
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

The wonder of Christmas never ceases. Each year the holiday comes and its story seems fresh and new. The ways of telling about the very first Christmas are as many and as varied as the stars in the sky. And so it was for Langston Hughes, who recounted those long-ago events in six different ways - in five poems he wrote and in one he translated from the Spanish. In this memorable book, these six poems are simply and movingly illustrated by Ashley Bryan. That Christmas is for everyone - young and old, black and white, rich and poor - has never been more clearly shown. Though African American children - and adults - will find the book a special one for them, everyone who takes time to enjoy the book will come away with a new understanding of the holiday. Ashley Bryan has long been known for his interest in and illustration of African American spirituals and poetry. Here he puts his gifts of illustration to work in a way that seems to reflect his dedication to both.

Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Award-winning author and illustrator Ashley Bryan has selected twenty best-known and best-loved African-American spirituals, including the title song, "All Night, All Day," and such others as "This Little Light of Mine," "O When the Saints Go Marching In," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Glorious full-color pictures, piano accompaniment, and guitar chords help capture the spirit and essence of these timeless songs that can be enjoyed by people of every age and every level of musical skill.

Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Ashley Bryan says, "My mother had a proverb for any situation, attitude, or event." Many of us have had the same experience. But have you ever heard, "As a crab walks, so walk its children" or "A log may lie in the water for ten years, but it will never become a crocodile"? These are two of the twenty-six African proverbs Ashley Bryan has chosen to illustrate in this book. Having grown up with proverbs, it was no surprise to Mr. Bryan when he began reading African literature to find African proverbs along with African stories. The proverbs grew out of the lives and experiences of the varied African peoples. Each proverb here is credited to a specific tribe, yet, as Ashley Bryan explains, most were known in other tribes as well. And in fact, all are true for people everywhere. We may not see crabs often, but we understand about crab children, and even poeple who do not have crocodiles nearby know that they do not begin as logs. This is a book to treasure for its rich universal wisdom and its gloriously evocative illustrations.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

In this beautiful collection of art and poetry Ashley Bryan celebrates all aspects of life - from a rainshower at the seashore to a beloved grandmother gathering fruit. Perfect for reading aloud, these joyful, heartfelt poems will touch all who read them.

By Naomi Shihab Nye
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

There are 100 poems in this book by 100 poets who wrote their poems when thye were in grades one through twelve. These poets are not famous. You have not read their poems before. These poets live anywhere. They are now dentists and dancers and teachers and students and construction workers. They write with fire. They could be you.

By Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

"Long ago, when the earth had not settled in its turning and the stars had not found their places in the night sky, there were three kingdoms." With powerful prose and bold illustrations, Walter Dean Myers and Ashley Bryan tell how the People used their gift of storytelling to outwit the rulers of the three kingdoms, making this triumphant story one worth reading again and again.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Here are five Nigerian folktales, retold in language as rhythmic as the beat of the story-drum, and illustrated with vibrant, evocative woodcuts. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award.

By Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

The quiet and noisy, wintery and sometimes sunny poems in The Sun Is So Quiet will always make you smile. Nikki Giovanni describes riding rainbows, tiptoeing through strawberry patches, licking chocolaty fingers, snuggling under covers, and many other wonderful childhood moments. Ashley Bryan's warmest, most colorful illustrations make each page look like a bright, beaming smile. Together, they have created a collection that you can linger over like a peppermint candy cane or enjoy as quickly as a snowflake melts on your nose.

By Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Dan stories from Liberia. Discover why Leopard has spots, what happens when Mrs. Chicken meets a hungry crocodile, and how the birds react when Spider flies to their feast. These and other Dan tales are engagingly retold by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, with dramatic black-and-white linoleum prints by award-winning illustrator and writer Ashley Bryan.

Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Book of postcards, each a photograph of a different puppet of Ashley Bryan's unique creation. Published on the occasion of the exhibition "Stories to Tell and Retell: The Puppets of Ashley Bryan" organized and presented in the Pieper Education Gallery by the Milwaukee Art Museum, September 10, 2004 - August 31, 2005.

By Ashley Bryan

Ashley's autobiography is full of art, photographs, and the poignant never-say-never tale of his rich life, a life that has always included drawing and painting. Even as a boy growing up during the Depression, he painted -- finding cast off objects to turn into books and kites and toy and art. Even as a solder in the segregated Army on the beaches of Normandy, he sketched -- keeping charcoal crayons and paper in his gasmask to draw with during lulls. Even as a talented, visionary art student who was accepted and then turned away from college upon arrival, the school telling Ashley that to give a scholarship to an African American student would be a waste, he painted -- continuing to create art when he could have been discouraged, continuing to polish his talents when his spirit should have been beaten. Ashley went on to become a Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee, a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, and a multiple Coretta Scott King award winner. As you might imagine, his story is powerful, bursting with his creative energy, and a testament to believing in oneself. It's a book every child in America should have access to and it does what the very best autobiographies do; it inspires!

By Ashley Bryan

Was $16.99, now $8.00!
Was Armed only with gloriously hued colored paper and his mother's embroidery scissors, renowned artist Ashley Bryan captures the mightiest whales and the most delicate blossoms, pearls of grapes and grins of children in this homage to Cecil F. Alexander's beloved hymn, which is performed by choirs around the world.