Ruby Bridges was a 6-year-old first-grader when she walked past jeering crowds of white people to become one of the first Black students at racially segregated schools in New Orleans more than six decades ago. Now, with teaching about race in America more complicated than it’s ever been, she’s authored a picture book about her experience for the youngest of readers.
Bridges, along with three other Black students at a different school, were the first to integrate what had been all-white schools in New Orleans in 1960.
“I Am Ruby Bridges,” featuring illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, goes on sale Tuesday. Published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., it’s aimed at readers as young as 4.
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