Before the Ships

Praise for Before the Ships:

I want to read Before the Shipsover and over. What an anthem! What a spark of light! It left me breathless and hopeful. I want to share it with my son, my nieces and nephews, with anyone, really, who is brave enough to listen. – Tami Charles, New York Times bestselling author of All Because You Matter

“In an insightful picture book, Oso (Buster the Bully) offers an empowering portrait of African peoples “before the ships” … It’s an apt, affirming history that connects readers to ancestors while underlining how “Black lives have always mattered.” – Publishers Weekly(starred review)

“A celebration of Pan-African achievement that spans much of the continent and its pre-colonial history… A beautifully bold dedication to Black greatness” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This lyrical and reaffirming picture book seeks to give young readers a sense of Black history far beyond the limits of standard school curricula that start with the slave trade and concentrate on African interactions with Westerners… an accessible and fresh perspective and should be considered for most collections.” – Booklist (starred review)

Maisha Oso is the author of Buster the Bully, Welbeck Kids 2021, and the forthcoming picture books, My Hair Is a Book, Harper Collins 2024, and Before the Ships, Scholastic 2024. She writes stories to empower, entertain, and encourage emotional intelligence in young children. A former strategy & analytics professional from New York City, Maisha is currently working in her most challenging role to date: a stay-at-home mom of three tiny humans. When she is not writing, you can find her wrangling her kids, binge-watching an unhealthy amount of reality television, or belting out lyrics from the Hamilton soundtrack. After living abroad for several years in Africa, Maisha and her family have recently moved back stateside to Alpharetta, Georgia.

Candice Bradley is a self-taught author and illustrator, from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her passion today has evolved into a love for storytelling in all its various forms and has led to her most recent studies of Film and TV at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts. Candice’s hope as an artist is to support the movement of writers and storytellers, redeeming the narrative for minorities and people of color.