This is a picture of the North Carolina library where I saw the cohabitation register that inspired Ellen's Broom.

Welcome to Day 5! Today, we visit The 3 R’s – Reading, ‘Riting and Research, the blog of amazing author Joyce Moyer Hostetter. Thanks, Joyce!

Remember that anyone who posts a comment on this blog, my FaceBook author page or one of my tour stops is entered in a giveaway of a Stuart’s Creations wedding/anniversary broom and signed poster of the cover. Also, each day I’ll post a fact about the history that inspired Ellen’s Broom and feature a printable for kids or special link for the family to share.

Here’s our fifth fact:

DID YOU KNOW that there have been books and even movies made about jumping the broom. The TV miniseries, Roots, is often credited with inspiring a resurgence after showing a scene that celebrated it. The book, Jumping the Broom: The African-American Wedding Planner, by Harriette Cole was another important title that helped re-introduce it to African-American culture. And last year, a wonderful movie called Jumping the Broom was produced by Bishop T.D. Jakes. Tracey Edmunds, Glendon Palmer and Elizabeth Hunter.

Fun for kids:

Here’s a coloring page created by illustrator Daniel Minter of Mama giving Ellen the broom to carry on their journey.

I still have the broom my husband I jumped. It's a tie to the trials our people have overcome.

Welcome to Day 4! Today, we visit Inside the Books, the blog of author/illustrator Jacquitta McManus. I love her artistic mission: “to excite young people through uniquely uncommon fantasy / adventure tales while reminding everyone to dream.”

Remember that anyone who posts a comment on this blog, my FaceBook author page or one of my tour stops is entered in a giveaway of a Stuart’s Creations wedding/anniversary broom and signed poster of the cover. Also, each day I’ll post a fact about the history that inspired Ellen’s Broom and feature a printable for kids or special link for the family to share.

Here’s our fourth fact:

DID YOU KNOW that no one is exactly sure how the jumping the broom tradition came to be? Some people say it came from slave holders of European origin. Others say it has West African roots. What is known is that jumping the broom made enslaved people feel more married in a system that gave their unions no legal protection.

Fun for kids:

Here’s another cool coloring page Daniel Minter created. This one is Mama and Papa jumping the broom.

Look what came yesterday? My copies of Ellen's Broom!

Thanks for coming along on Day 3. Today, we visit Kristi’s Book Nook, the blog of Kristi Bernard, an awesome and generous reviewer, blogger and children’s book writer. Thanks, Kristi!

Remember that anyone who posts a comment on this blog, my FaceBook author page or one of my tour stops is entered in a giveaway of a Stuart’s Creations wedding/anniversary broom and signed poster of the cover. Also, each day I’ll post a fact about the history that inspired Ellen’s Broom and feature a printable for kids or special link for the family to share.

Here’s our third fact:

DID YOU KNOW that one of the new freedoms for formerly enslaved people was having their own churches? During slavery, they may have had to sneak to the woods to worship freely just like Ellen’s family. The spirituals from slavery were sang after freedom came too. You can even hear songs like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and Wade in the Water in some churches today. Here’s Paul Robeson singing Go Down, Moses (Let My People Go). 

Fun for kids:

Like challenges? Try to find all of the words in this Ellen’s Broom word search.

Seeing this display at Quail Ridge Books & Music made my day. Ellen's Broom launch party will be held there at 3 p.m. on January 15.

Welcome to Day 2 of my Blog Tour! Today, we go to The Brown Bookshelf, where I share a list of multicultural children’s books about weddings. Thank you to my BBS family for all of their support. I’m honored to be part of the team.

I also want to say a special thank you to Cynsations and TheHappyNappyBookseller for featuring me on their blogs yesterday! Kidlit folks are some of the most generous I know.

Remember that anyone who posts a comment on this blog, my FaceBook author page or one of my tour stops is entered in a giveaway of a Stuart’s Creations wedding/anniversary broom and signed poster of the cover. Also, each day I’ll post a fact about the history that inspired Ellen’s Broom and feature a printable for kids or special link for the family to share.

Here’s our second fact:

DID YOU KNOW that some records from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) are available for you to read. Part of my research for Ellen’s Broom was reading letters Freedmen’s Bureau officers wrote about registering marriages of freedmen and women. Here’s a link to some of the correspondence about family issues including trying to help reunite families and register marriages.

Fun for kids:

Ellen’s Broom illustrator Daniel Minter is an amazing artist and super sweet guy. Check out the coloring page he created  that shows Mama and Papa telling the story about the broom above the hearth.

This post is in honor of To Mama With Love, a wonderful project created by Epic Change. Children’s book author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich invited me to take part in this special celebration of the amazing women we call mom. You can help out by creating a “heart space” for your own mom, donating to the cause or spreading the word. Thank you.

When I think of my childhood, the first person I see is my mom.

I remember her making up bedtime stories for my brother and me, tales that sent us sailing through clouds or took us to spooky places that made us giggle and jump. I picture her driving me to weekly piano lessons and cheering when the hard work paid off as I played Kelly’s Blues with the Milliones Middle School Jazz Ensemble. I see her teaching me to walk tall by strutting around grandma’s dining room table to George Benson’s Turn Your Love Around.

On those mommy-and-me afternoons, Mom always went first, head held high, model walk full of sass and style. Next, it was my turn. I took one tentative step and then another. Mom beamed and shouted out encouragements like, “Go ahead, now!” as my confidence grew with each stride.

Beautiful and talented, Mom made me feel like I could accomplish anything. No dream was too large, no ambition too bold. She did that while putting aside her own dreams, so my brother and I had a chance to soar.

For much of my childhood, my mom worked as a data entry operator and then supervisor. She worked hard, put in overtime, but still made time to give us extras. She took us to Pittsburgh Playhouse Junior where we met the actors who brought our fairytale favorites to life, to the Carnegie Library where books opened doors to magical worlds and to family gatherings where we were surrounded by people we knew would always be there for us.

Mom came home beat sometimes. But she still attended every Open House, came to each performance or game, had sleepovers for us and our cousins and took us to fun places like the Pittsburgh Zoo and Kennywood Amusement Park. On weekdays, she entrusted us to our grandparents until she got off, knowing they would root us in tradition and spirituality and surround us with affection.

As I reflect on those moments, my skin prickles and my heart pumps with pride. There’s just one word for everything Mom did for my brother and me:  Love. It was there in every action, every word. As a mom now myself, I hold her up as my example.

Along with learning the meaning of love, I picked up another priceless lesson from Mom: Sometimes you have to postpone your dreams, but you never let them go.

Whenever Mom could, she wrote plays that were performed at churches and in community centers. She auditioned for the Civic Light Opera and won a part in Kismet. She played Sister Boxer in Kuntu Repertory Theatre’s production of Amen Corner and traveled with them to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

And she was just getting started. After my brother and I were grown, Mom really let her dreams take flight. She rocked the stage as lead singer with a reggae band. She went back to school and earned not just her bachelor’s, but he

Thank you to everyone who made my virtual tour such a success! Here’s an article that ran in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about my visit to my hometown: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10291/1095778-44.stm.

One of the highlights was spending time with school children. At the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, kids from Beechwood Elementary, Propel Montour and Morrow Elementary came to hear my program. They were warm, curious, funny. Some of them entered the One Million Men and Me essay contest too. All of the stories were wonderful. Thank you to the boys and girls who shared stories of special moments with fathers and father-figures. And thank you to the August Wilson Center, Just Us Books and Reading is FUNdamental-Pittsburgh for sponsoring the contest. You can read the winning essays here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=450044096337.

Today is a milestone anniversary for one of the largest gatherings in the history of our nation’s capital — the Million Man March. Fifteen years ago, African-American men — rich and poor, young and old – came together. I was there on that historic day. I remember gasping as I gazed at a sea of beautiful brown faces. You could feel love and unity around you everywhere.

I went to the March to write about young men who attended. But I ended  being transformed myself. The power, peace and purpose of that amazing event will stay with me always. I wrote One Million Men and Me (illustrated by Peter Ambush, published by Just Us Books), to share the story of the March with a new generation and celebrate a special relationship between a father and child.

This virtual tour has been a way for me to connect the legacy of the March with even more children and parents. It’s been a way for me to salute the wonderful fathers and father-figures that touch children’s lives. Thank you for being part of this journey. I am so moved by your support and kindness. I feel truly blessed.

On this anniversary day and always, I am grateful for having been at the March and thankful for all of you. Today, at 11 a.m., I’ll share One Million Men and Me at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro. Then, at 6 p.m. on Monday, I’ll celebrate the March and One Million Men and Me in Pittsburgh at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. So stay tuned for pictures from those events.

In the meantime, I am happy to announce the winners of the giveaway. My daughter drew the names this morning . Drum roll please . . . . One Million Men and Me signed poster to Linda Andersen, One Million Men and Me T-shirt to Chimone Parris, One Million Men and Me tote bag to Marnie Lester. Thanks again to everyone who has been part of this tour! I appreciate you so much.

Let’s celebrate the March today by sharing what it meant with children. If you saw it on TV, share your memories. If you were there, share your testimony. I’d love to hear your remembrances too. Please share them at my FaceBook author page. I’m asking people to post memories about the March all day.

I’ve written several stories about the March and its impact over the years. Here are some quotes from people I’ve featured in stories:

“I was hearing about buses coming from all states. Some people were walking from Philadelphia, taking the Greyhound, getting here any way they could.”
– Keith Shannon, co-founder of Preparing America’s Tomorrow Today

“There were black men everywhere. Everyone was speaking to each other, shaking hands. That day there were times when you could feel God’s presence. It was just an overwhelming feeling of joy.”
– Antoine L. Medley, founder of Cornel West Academy of Excellence

“All I saw was just an ocean, an ocean of black men, not just black, but Puerto Rican, Mexican, you name it, people of color. It’s like a feeling in your soul. I can’t even explain it. Everybody was standing around giving everybody hugs. If you bumped into someone, they said, `Excuse me brother pardon me.’ There was love all around.”
– Starsky Robinson, who was 17 when he attended the March/From Syracuse Herald-Journal article