Faith Ringgold was born on October 8, 1930.

Faith Ringgold began her career as a painter, and is best known for her painted story quilts, which combine painting, quilted fabric, and storytelling. Her first book Tar Beach earned a Caldecott Honor Award, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. Ringgold has written and illustrated 11 children's books, addressing issues of race, African American history, and civil rights.

Use Ringgold's books as a springboard for a discussion of race, gender, and civil rights-both current and historical. Then invite your students to write and illustrate original picture books based on these issues.

• First, have students brainstorm, select, and research a specific event or topic, such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic speech or the Underground Railroad.
  
  
• Then have students plan and write an illustrated story using the interactive Flip Book. The Flip Book allows students to create up to 10 pages and provides text, drawing, and background editing tools. See the Flip Book page for more information about this tool.

When their books are complete, students can be invited to take turns reading them to the class.

• Faith Ringgold
  

  Faith Ringgold's homepage provides an author biography, a questionnaire about race, an author interview, and other related resources.

   

• Faith Ringgold's Biography
  

  This resource from Scholastic provides a biography of Ringgold, as well as a link to a booklist.

   

• Social Activism: Faith Ringgold
  

  This PBS resource focuses on Ringgold's work as it relates to racism and gender inequality. PBS also offers information about Ringgold's painted story quilts.

   

• Teacher's Guide: Tar Beach
  

  Random House provides this teacher's guide for Tar Beach, which includes book and author information as well as teaching ideas.