"Before Augusta Braxton Baker became a storyteller, she was an excellent story listener. Her grandmother brought stories like Br'er Rabbit and Arthur and Excalibur to life, teaching young Augusta that where there's a will, there's always a way. When she grew up, Mrs. Baker began telling her own fantastical stories to children at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in 1940s Harlem. But she noticed that there were hardly any books at the library featuring Black people in respectful, empowering ways. Thus began her journey of championing books, writers, illustrators, librarians and teachers centering Black stories, and inspiring future acclaimed authors like Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Walter Dean Myers, and Tom Feelings along the way."-- Front cover flap.