Stories from the Brownie Book

“This was inevitable in our role as newspaper—but what effect must it have on our children? To educate them in human hatred is more disastrous to them than to the hated; to seek to raise them in ignorance of their racial identity and peculiar situation is inadvisable—impossible…there seems but one alternative: We shall publish hereafter not one Children's Number a year, but twelve! Messrs. DuBois and Dill will issue in November, in co-operation with the crisis, but as an entirely separate publication, a little magazine for children—for all children, but especially for ours, ‘the Children of the Sun.’ It will be called, naturally, The Brownies' Book, and as we have advertised, ‘It will be a thing of Joy and Beauty, dealing in Happiness, Laughter and Emulation, and designed especially for Kiddies from Six to Sixteen. It will seek to teach Universal Love and Brotherhood for all little folk—black and brown and yellow and white.’”

Stories From the Brownies Book is a new collection of tales celebrating African American children’s literature and the groundbreaking work of the N.A.A.C.P. Originally conceived by W.E.B. DuBois, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and Augustus Granville Dill, The Brownies Book was a one-of-a-kind literary magazine that was the first to cater specifically to Black children. 

With over two dozen works of fiction such as, “A Visit to Fairyland,” “How Br’er Possum Outwitted Br’er Rabbit,” and “Those Who Have No Turkey,” as well as selected biographies of legendary Black figures including Benjamin Banneker, Toussaint L’ouverture, and Alexandre Dumas; Stories From the Brownies Book offers some of the best children’s literature of the early twentieth century.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.