Join Nikki Giovanni and illustrator Bryan Collier in a segment about their new book, Rosa, a loving portrait of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. You'll need the RealOne Player (www.real.com) to see the three-minute video clip.
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Poet Nikki Giovanni and illustrator Bryan Collier first met when they got together to produce a book about one day in the life of Rosa Parks. So when the invitation came to write a story about her friend, Nikki Giovanni worked to make it fly.

"I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Parks about 24 or 25 years ago on a really rainy day in Philadelphia. I said, 'Miss Parks, Nikki Giovanni. I'm a writer.' And she said, 'Oh, baby,' she said, 'I love that Nikki Rosa.' And it just took my breath away. I had no idea she knew who I was."

Giovanni wanted to show Rosa Parks not as a civil rights icon, but as what she was, which was "an ordinary woman who was goin' to do, and always did do, extraordinary things."

Selected Books by Nikki Giovanni and Bryan Collier
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 For the first time ever, the complete poetry collection spanning three decades from Nikki Giovanni, renowned poet and one of America's national treasures.		Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People In a personal and warm voice, Giovanni "celebrates ordinary folks" and writes of struggle and liberation in these poems about aspects of the African American experience.		Uptown Discover the vibrant world of Harlem, New York, as seen through the eyes of one little boy who lives there.

When Bryan Collier first got the Rosa Parks book, he read it about a hundred times. Bryan Collier is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator. His signature artwork is a mix of water color and collage. According to Collier, "a collage is like this wonderful metaphor for life. It's often about small, insignificant moments, only when you put them together, that's when they sort of create this huge event."

Soon it all comes together. When the two worlds of words and pictures collide — you sometimes get magic.