KIDS STUFF: Black History Month books

BEST FOR Ages 4

and older

"Dizzy" (Scholastic; $17.99) by Jonah Winter, Sean Qualls (illustrator): This is the story of Dizzy Gillespie. Jazz was his ticket on a train to better days, and he left his hard life in a small town for New York City and the hottest band around. Who knew hitting high notes, low notes, never-before-heard notes would create a whole new music called bebop.

BEST FOR Ages 5 and older

"Ellen's Broom" (Putnam Juvenile, $16.99) by Kelly Starling Lyons, Daniel Minter (illustrator): During Reconstruction, Ellen's parents can finally register as husband and wife. Before it was legal for them to officially wed, they "jumped the broom," which is what made them a family. Holding on to traditions but hopeful for new freedom, Ellen proudly goes to the courthouse where her parents are to marry -- but she doesn't forget to bring the broom.

BEST FOR Ages 7 and older

"Beautiful Ballerina" (Scholastic, $17.99) Marilyn Nelson, Susan Kuklin (photographer): This beautiful photographic picture book with a poetic narrative celebrates ballerinas, who come in all shapes and sizes.

BEST FOR Ages 9 and older

"Bird in a Box" (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99) by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Sean Qualls (illustrator): Told from the perspectives of three different African-American children in the 1930s, this novel brings together friends during the Great Depression in a small upstate New York town.