This book describes the roots, culture and learning styles of black children. It is written to promote awareness that black children differ from other children in ways which are relevant to education. These differences must be known and acted upon in order to provide black children with an appropriate education. The book contains the following seven chapters: (1) The African Background Considered; (2) How Culture Shapes Cognition; (3) Culture and Child Rearing; (4) Play Behavior as an Indicator of Cognitive Style; (5) The Humanities as a Source of Black Culture; (6) Afro-American Roots: Interviews with Grandmothers; and (7) Toward a Curriculum Relevant to Afro-Americans: Implications for Early Childhood Education. The epilogue is a review of research literature about the education of black children. A bibliography and an index are included. (VM)