Running the Road to ABC

This buoyant and richly illustrated ABC picture book follows six Haitian children on their way to school—a Coretta Scott King Award winner!

Long before the sun even thinks of rising, the Haitian children run to school—over the hills, through the fields, across the city square. Under the bright morning sun, surrounded by the sounds of nature, the eager students journey through their nation’s hill and meadow regions to learn the letters, sounds, and words of their beautiful books at school.

Denize Lauture was born in Haiti, the first of thirteen children. He emigrated to the United States when he was twenty-two and worked as a welder in Harlem while attending evening classes at the City College of New York, where he earned his bachelor’s in sociology and master’s in bilingual education. He has worked as a professor, consultant on Haitian culture and language, and children’s book writer.

Reynold Ruffins is a graduate of The Cooper Union and a recipient of its most prestigious honor, The Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award for outstanding professional achievement in arts. Ruffins has taught art and design at many different schools and completed commissions for several clients, including IBM, AT&T, Coca-Cola, and The New York Times. Ruffins has illustrated over fifteen children’s books and earned a Coretta Scott King Award for Running the Road to ABC.