Tar Beach

Summary of Book

CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD WINNER • CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK

Acclaimed artist Faith Ringgold seamless weaves fiction, autobiography, and African American history into a magical story that resonates with the universal wish for freedom, and will be cherished for generations.

Cassie Louise Lightfoot has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on “tar beach,” the rooftop of her family’s Harlem apartment building, her dreams come true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city, claiming the buildings and the city as her own.

As Cassie learns, anyone can fly. “All you need is somewhere to go you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.”

Author Biography

Faith Ringgold was born in Harlem in 1930. She received a degree in art education from the City College of New York and was an art teacher long before she became a professional artist. She is best known for her painted story quilts, some of which hang in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Tar Beach, Ringgold’s first book for children, won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and was named a Caldecott honor Book. Her other picture books include Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky, My Dream of Martin Luther King, Cassie's Word Quilt, and We Came to America.

Illustrator Biography

Faith Ringgold was born in Harlem in 1930. She received a degree in art education from the City College of New York and was an art teacher long before she became a professional artist. She is best known for her painted story quilts, some of which hang in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Tar Beach, Ringgold’s first book for children, won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and was named a Caldecott honor Book. Her other picture books include Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky, My Dream of Martin Luther King, Cassie's Word Quilt, and We Came to America.