Krik? Krak! As a child, at the signal for storytelling time, you’d find me there, ears perked, pulse pounding for another exciting round of storytelling adventure. Whether it was a fantastic folktale or gossip about the neighbors, nothing excited me as much as hearing stories. Haiti is rich in an oral tradition that has its roots in the suppression of Creole by colonizers and later, the Haitian government. Love of literacy starts early. This list of children’s books by Haitian writers is certain to spark the same joy I felt as a child and perhaps lead to a life-long love of books, and a greater understanding of Haitian culture.
(Do you want to help improve this list of women writers with ties to Haiti and/or whose work highlight island culture and interests? Please email me at fievrerouge@gmail.com.)
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS
BY WOMEN WRITERS OF HAITIAN DESCENT
- Jeanine Agnant: Mommy, Tell Me About Haiti (EducaVision, 2008)
- Maureen Boyer: Where is Lola? (One Moore Book, 2013)
- Edwidge Danticat: Mama’s Nightingale (Dial Books, 2015)
- Edwidge Danticat: The Last Mapou (One Moore Book, 2013)
- Edwidge Danticat: Untwine (Scholastic Press, 2015)
- M. Sindy Felin: Touching Snow (Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition 2011)
- Marie Jirlande Fenelon: The Two Best Friends and the Old Lady (EducaVision, 2006)
- M.J. Fievre: I Am Riding (One Moore Book, 2013)
- Suze Guillaume: EJ’s Exciting Road Trip (Build and Inspire, 2015)
- Maude Heurtelou: The Bonplezi Family (EducaVision, 1996)
- Maude Heurtelou: Cinderella / Sentaniz (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: Dreaming Big (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: I Dream Too (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: Jack and the Beanstalk / Yon Sak Pwa Majik (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: The Lion Cub / Pitit Lyon (EducaVision, 1996)
- Maude Heurtelou: Little Red Riding Hood / Anita Chapo Wouj (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: Sleeping Beauty / Prensès Andòmi (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: Snow White / Prensès Solèy (EducaVision, 2014)
- Maude Heurtelou: Three Little Pigs / Twa Ti Kochon (EducaVision, 2014)
- Joanne Hyppolite: Ola Shakes It Up (Yearling, 2001)
- Joanne Hyppolite: Seth and Samona (Yearling, 2009)
- Mireille B. Lauture’s Haitian Folktale Collection (AuthorHouse, 2012)
- Liliane Louis: The Magic of Zenga and the Pumpkin Soup (2013)
- Liliane Louis: The Magic of Zenga and the Pumpkin Soup, Vol. 2 (2014)
- Liliane Louis: When Night Falls: Kric! Krac! (Library Unlimited, 1999)
- Maryse Noël Roumain: Anacaona, Ayiti’s Taino Queen (Trafford Publishing, 2012)
- Jaira Placide: Fresh Girl (Wendy Lambs Books, 2002)
- Mahalia Solages: What Morning Is This? (Lulu, 2010)
- Mahalia Solages: What Trip Is This? (2011)
- Cybille Alida St-Aude: Elsie (One Moore Book, 2013)
- Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel: Beauty Walks in Nature (EducaVision, 2010)
- Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel: Songs from a Tower (EducaVision, 2009)
- Katia D. Ulysse: Fabiola Konn Konte (One Moore Book, 2013)
- Ibi Zoboi: A is for Ayiti (One Moore Book, 2013)