Today, we are proud to announce the honorees for our sixth annual 28 Days Later cam
paign, a Black History Month celebration of emerging and established children’s book creators of color. As is tradition, a stand-out author or illustrator will be saluted each day during February.
“This is my second year working with the 28 Days Later campaign and I’m just as excited as the first year,” said team member Gwendolyn Hooks. “Researching authors that I wasn’t familiar with and showcasing them so others will know of their spectacular work is a dream job. When I read their books, take note of their awards, and follow their path to publication, I’m swept along in the flow of their achievements. I can’t wait to share them with our readers.
The month-long submissions window for our campaign opened in October. Wonderful suggestions from librarians, teachers, publishers and kidlit lovers flowed in. We considered those names along with internal nominations and nominees from past years, keeping focused on our mission to “push awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers.”
We will honor 28 children’s book creators in all – 24 authors and four illustrators.
“Due to busy and conflicting schedules, we considered ending our 28 Days Later campaign,” said team member Don Tate. “I’m sure happy we didn’t. I am inspired by this year’s honorees more than ever.
The authors and the day they will be featured are as follows:
Vanguard authors in bold.
Illustrators in italics.
Feb. 1 – Malaika Rose Stanley (MG)
Feb. 2 – Christian Robinson– (Illustrator)
Feb. 3 – Alaya Dawn Johnson – (YA)
Feb. 4 – Glenda Armand – (PB)
Feb. 5 – Glennette Tilley Turner – (MG)
Feb. 6 – Traci L. Jones – (YA)
Feb. 7 – Brynne Barnes – (PB)
Feb. 8 – Brian F. Walker – (YA)
Feb. 9 – Veronica Chambers – (MG)
Feb. 10 – B.A. Binns (YA)
Feb. 11 – Donna Washington – (PB)
Feb. 12 – Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams – (MG)
Feb. 13 – Octavia Butler – (YA )
Feb. 14 – Ann Tanksley – (Illustrator)
Feb. 15 – Lyah Beth LeFlore – (YA)
Feb. 16 – Tololwa M. Mollel – (PB)
Feb. 17 – Arna Bontemps – (MG)
Feb. 18 – Jasmine Richards – (MG)
Feb. 19 – James Ransome – (PB)
Feb. 20 – Ashley Bryan – (Illustrator)
Feb. 21 – Nalo Hopkinson – (YA)
Feb. 22- Daniel Minter – (Illustrator)
Feb. 23 – Angela Shelf Medearis – (PB)
Feb. 24 – Linda Tarrant-Reid – (MG)
Feb. 25 – Willie Perdomo – (PB)
Feb. 26 – Chudney Ross – (MG)
Feb. 27 – Becky Birtha – (PB)
Feb. 28 – Jaime Reed – (YA)
What an excellent idea! The majority of the authors and illustrators on the list are new to me. I can’t wait to learn more about them in February! This is a great resource for teachers!
Yay! Thanks so much for your kind words. The fun starts Feb. 1.
I am SO happy you did not do away with this special 28 Days. I look forward to it yearly and have met many new authors and illustrators whose work I now follow. Thank you for this undertaking, I know well it is a time consuming and at times I am sure a tedious task. Be assured many of us treasure these posts!
Thank you. That means a lot. It’s a labor of love. We appreciate wonderful people llike you who continue to support the campaign.
I love this time of year with you!
Robin
Thank you! We love it too. Means a lot to us to celebrate this important work.
So exciting! Thank you so much for putting all this together again.
Thank you for stopping by. We appreciate your support.
Love this…can’t wait to get more info on the authors and check out their books for my kids. Thanks!
That’s what we love to hear! Thank you for supporting the authors and illustrators we celebrate.
Yay for Mr. Ashley Bryan! I’ve worked with him before and have worked continously with the children’s traveling exhibit named for him. e is a wonderful man, full of energy and light. Will share this with my colleagues!
Love that. “Full of energy and light.” That’s just what he is. I had the pleasure of meeting him several months ago. Wow. I was blown away. He’s amazing. Just joy personified. Thank you for sharing with your colleagues.
Looks like a terrific reading list for 2013, Thanks,
Jean
Thanks so much, Jean!
So happy you are still doing this!! I will be following every post.
That means a lot. We appreciate every comment, every person who takes the time to stop by or share a post. So thank you so much.
Always a great list of talent. Looking forward to sharing with students and teachers.
Thank you for doing this! I am so glad to see that Glennette Tilley Turner and B.A. Binns will be featured along with other more famous authors and illustrators. I’m looking forward to reading about all of these book creators.
I am so happy to find this resource! Looking forward to checking out these authors. I’ve passed this along to some teacher friends.