Harriet Tubman’s Remarkable Journeys Through Darkness and Starry Skies

A Black History Month First-Time Presentation

Harriet Tubman owned the night, and she was at one with the stars. She had to be to take more than 13 remarkable trips on the Underground Railroad to lead herself and others to freedom.

Join Award-winning Author-Illustrator Caroline Brewer  and Prince George’s County Public Schools Planetarium Director Patty Seaton on a journey into the night, under the stars, to get a better sense of the dangers Harriet and her passengers faced — and conquered — and learn more about the constellations that helped make her extraordinary success possible !Caroline will lead a rhythmic reading of her new award-winning book, Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature, as part of the program.

Order copies in advance at this link.  It accepts all credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Cash App.

Friday, February 13, 7 p.m. at the Howard B. Owens Science Center (Planetarium), 9601 Greenbelt Road, Lanham, MD 20706.
Email: howardb.owens@pgcps.org or call 301-918-8750 with questions.

RSVP at this link. 
Pay IN CASH at the door.
$8 | Adults  
$5 | Students/Teachers/Seniors/Military Families/First Responders

Caroline Brewer takes audiences on journeys with her books. It is a communal affair – much like gatherings in villages of old and the most modern concerts on stages today. When Caroline hosts a journey with her books, she and audiences sing, chant, clap, toe-tap, and, if the spirit moves, dance across the pages of whatever story she and they have agreed to tell.

Join us!  RSVP at this link.

Order copies in advance at this link.  It accepts all credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Cash App.

 

Caroline Brewer & Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature – A Musical Book Journey

Go on a rhythmic journey of singing, chanting, clapping & more with Caroline Brewer & her new book, Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature

Join us for a unique presentation by
Fort Wayne native and Children’s Book Author and Artist, Caroline Brewer.

Caroline Brewer takes audiences on journeys with her books. It is a communal affair – much like gatherings in villages of old and the most modern concerts on stages today. When Caroline hosts a journey with her books, she and audiences sing, chant, clap, toe-tap, and, if the spirit moves, dance across the pages of whatever story she and they have agreed to tell.

On Saturday, February 21, 2026 with the Fort Wayne Urban League at the Chief Condra Ridley Library, the Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature journey will be as moving, meaningful, and magical as any author presentation one might imagine.

Register at this link TODAY.

It’s FREE.

The Harriet Tubman Nobody Knew! Pre-order Now!

The Harriet Tubman Nobody Knew
Available to Pre-Order Today!

When Harriet Tubman was born enslaved in Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1822, nobody knew this tiny Black girl-child would grow up to be a leader. Nobody knew she would learn to find her way by following the stars. Nobody knew she’d move through the woods as silently as an owl or work as a spy during the Civil War. Nobody knew the power she would draw from prayer. Nobody knew she would escape enslavement, rescue hundreds, and find the joys of freedom.
Nobody knew she would become a force of nature, and that her journey would one day be chronicled in a 48-page picture book written and illustrated by Caroline Brewer.
With compelling poetry perfect for reading aloud and luminous collage illustrations, Brewer brings readers of all ages into Harriet Tubman’s nature-fueled life and deep spirituality.

Early reviewers are LOVING the story and the art, and are saying they’ve never seen or read a children’s book about Tubman like this. We believe it’s the first of its kind. Pre-Order Today at Bookshop or bookstores anywhere and find out soon what all the buzz is about!

Have we got a celebration for you!

Say Their Names National Award Celebration and Community Art Event
with Author Caroline Brewer and The Capitol Hill United Methodist Church
Saturday, October 12, 2024 * 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Capitol Hill United Methodist Church
421 Seward Square SE
Washington, DC 20003

FREE Event! Free Books! (Limited Supply)
Meet an award-winning author!
Get your book autographed!
Make –and take home –art!

Click HERE to RSVP

We will celebrate the Anna Dewdney National Read Together Honor Book Award
by reading together, performance-style, with Author Caroline Brewer

This means come prepared to sing, clap, dance, and celebrate
the uplifting story of the Say Their Names picture book, illustrated by Adrian Brandon.
The performance will be followed by a reception and community art event – the making of a butterfly memorial. Registration is required and deeply appreciated. Feel free to spread the word!

Click HERE to RSVP

WASHINGTON POST features new book, Through My Anacostia Eyes by students

The Washington Post is featuring in today’s Sunday newspaper and online edition Through My Anacostia Eyes: Environmental Problems and Possibilities!

What say you friends about the new, profound, and uplifting book of #poetry and essays on the #environment written by DC’s Anacostia High School teens, edited by me and published by Conservation Nation , in partnership with the University of the District of Columbia’s Xavier Brown and Patrick Gusman, and the U.S. Department of the Interior? Share your thoughts with The Washington Post in the comments section and on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn posts. With deep appreciation to Conservation Nation Education Director Diane Lill for her passionate support and leadership on this writing and book-making project.

The students are having their say. What do you think?

Back to school — and everyday life — with SAY THEIR NAMES. Join us!

Every day in America someone is killed by police. Many of those killed are unarmed. A disproportionate number, of course, are Black, Latino, and Native American. Children are among the many victims. In the fall of 2022, it was announced that three Philadelphia police officers would stand trial for a shooting that killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility as she was riding in a car they mistakenly thought carried a criminal suspect.

An NPR investigative report in 2021 by Cheryl Thompson suggests that lack of accountability, and fear-driven policies by police departments, are key reasons the number of killings remains steady.

Even with, and perhaps because of, this depressing trend, authors are producing works for children and people of all ages to help us imagine news ways forward.  And we’re doing it with faith, hope, love, peace, power, and positive Identities, or as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it, “somebodiness.”

As a children’s book author, I’ve spent the past year sharing SAY THEIR NAMES with more than a thousand children, parents, teachers, librarians, and adults from many walks of life and diverse racial and ethnic heritages.

They’ve read with me, sang with me, cried with me, and been willing to enthusiastically spread the word about the importance of saying their names. I hope, as the magnificent Illustrator Adrian Brandon, Reycraft Books, and I celebrate the first book birthday of SAY THEIR NAMES, that you will support us. You can support us by buying books, posting about your experience with it, and inviting us to read, speak, and sing this country, this world, into a new day where we no longer, prematurely, have to say their names.

NATURE-WISE – Connecting the Climate, Environment, Young People And You

YOU’RE INVITED: Leaders at schools, youth, religious and other non-profit or for-profit organizations are invited to book trainings for NATURE-WISE for 2024-2025!  You can host a professional development training or a Youth Engagement Program. Read below for Professional Development and here for Youth Engagement and email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information.

What is Nature-wise? Nature-wise is a professional development training for educators and youth leaders designed to help children and teens understand and practice, on creative levels, that human beings are included in the definition of the environment. Protecting it is protecting us. We can’t protect what we don’t know or understand. The good news is that from our earliest days, we practice literacy and that opens a world of wondrous possibilities and opportunities to explore all the literacies — reading, writing, speaking, seeing, hearing, visual arts, music, dance, games, and so many more – as we dig deeper into the natural world, our place in it, and our power to be climate activists and better protect all living things.

Teachers will enjoy to work with me, a children’s book author, to introduce students to children’s books on the environment; Help students tap into the power of poetry to articulate feelings and observations about the environment; Bring local, national, and global environmental champions into students’ lives through picture books and online resources; Lead students on fascinating nature exploration journeys outdoors; Help students evaluate wildlife (colors, shapes, patterns, textures, and behaviors) in their school and home neighborhoods and create a neighborhood nature encyclopedia — and have fun!

Teachers will have opportunities to address fears about being outside and about various forms of wildlife; Create and play vocabulary games based on books and other literature; Help students write class and individual letters to authors, climate and environmental champions; Help students create interview questions for environmental champions and authors; Help students create artwork inspired by stories and the work of environmental champions. And so much more!

Email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information about how to bring Nature-Wise to your school or organization.

WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NATURE-WISE!
Dear Caroline

Just a note to thank you for your workshop last week. I had the most wonderful time and got so many great ideas. I’m a new-ish teacher (switched from journalism mid-career) and am always looking for ways to better my craft. Thanks to your ideas, I’m now using rhythmic poems every day and putting lyrics up on the board for my learners to read. They love it! I’m also halfway through your HTHS manual and am putting more of those ideas into practice. Thank you so much for doing what you do and for inspiring so many of us. It is helping countless numbers of children! All the best.

Nature-wise – Reading, Writing, Probing And Playing In The Outdoor Classroom

INTRODUCING Nature-Wise! Well, sort of.

Nature-Wise kicked off virtually during the spring of 2022 with my friends at the Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education. We held our first in-person training in early February in Ocean City. I’m now expanding the training nationally with Conservation Nation on March 29 virtually. This first session with CN is for DC Public Schools teachers only and all are FREE to teachers. Click here to register.

But wait! I’m inviting schools and youth organizations across the country to book trainings for the spring, summer and fall 2023 – right now.  Simply Email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information.

What is Nature-wise? Nature-wise is a professional development training for educators and youth leaders designed to help children and teens understand and practice, on creative levels, that human beings are included in the definition of the environment. We, too, are nature and from our earliest days, we practice literacy. And that opens a world of wondrous possibilities and opportunities to explore all the literacies — reading, writing, speaking, seeing, hearing, visual arts, music, dance, games, and so many more – as we explore the natural world, our place in it, and our power to be climate activists and better protect all living things.

Teachers will enjoy opportunities to introduce students to children’s literature on the environment; Help students tap into the power of poetry to articulate feelings and observations about the environment; Bring local, national, and global environmental champions into students’ lives through picture books and online resources; Lead students on fascinating nature exploration journeys outdoors; Help students evaluate wildlife (colors, shapes, patterns, textures, and behaviors) in their school and home neighborhoods and create a neighborhood nature encyclopedia — and have fun!

Teachers will have opportunities to address fears about being outside and about various forms of wildlife; Create and play vocabulary games based on books and other literature; Help students write class and individual letters to authors and environmental champions; Help students create interview questions for environmental champions and authors; Help students create artwork inspired by stories and the work of environmental champions.

Email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information about how to bring Nature-Wise to your school or organization.

WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NATURE-WISE!
Dear Caroline

Just a note to thank you for your workshop last week. I had the most wonderful time and got so many great ideas. I’m a new-ish teacher (switched from journalism mid-career) and am always looking for ways to better my craft. Thanks to your ideas, I’m now using rhythmic poems every day and putting lyrics up on the board for my learners to read. They love it! I’m also halfway through your HTHS manual and am putting more of those ideas into practice. Thank you so much for doing what you do and for inspiring so many of us. It is helping countless numbers of children! All the best.

Children are Embracing Priceless Gifts in SAY THEIR NAMES

 Media Opportunities December 6 & 7

Immediate Release – December 5, 2022

Contact Caroline Brewer, caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information

Washington, D.C. – When Children’s Book Author Caroline Brewer speaks to children about her new picture book, Say Their Names, she brings priceless gifts. Some are on the backs of a bookmark, or a special card, inside a gift bag printed on paper, or made of sparkly icing emblazoned on a sugar cookie. The gifts are words, such as hope, courage, peace, love, and light – representing some of the 30+ “gifts” readers can find inside the story of Say Their Names. The new picture book by Reycraft Books features the fictional 7-year-old Aliya on her quest to lead a love-inspired Black lives movement. Aliya’s gifts, Brewer says, are the elements of a positive identity, which researchers say can lead to smoother transition to adulthood. “A positive identity is what Say Their Names is all about, and it’s a gift that couldn’t be more appropriate given the challenges our children face today,” she added.

Children, parents, and educators agree.

“And what I really like about it is how you put a little kid on there and you made (Aliya) strong and brave and independent to do what she got to do and she’s wonderful,” Andreya, a 5th grader at Simon Elementary in D.C., wrote after Brewer’s author visit in November.

” Teaching the value and dignity of all is at the heart of our school’s mission and this book says to our scholars that their lives matter and that  they, even in their youth, are powerful and can transform the world,” said Nicole Peltier Lewis M.Ed, Principal of Annunciation.

Brewer, a DC resident and literacy consultant, will visit two schools this week to offer gifts that children can make their own:

9:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Tuesday, December 6, 2022Annunciation Catholic School, 3810 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 20016

1:00 – 1:45 p.m. – Wednesday, December 7, 2022Truesdell Elementary, 800 Ingraham St. NW Washington, D.C. 20011 (Pen-Faulkner Author Visit)