Normally, we like to give our honorees a luminous, sometimes lengthy introduction. The words of Dream Jordan are so substantial, however, I don’t want to stand in their way. Please share this post with the teens in your life. I’ll be sharing it with those in mine. Brooklyn native, NYU magna cum laude graduate, YA [ Read the full article… ]
28 Days
Day 11: Nana Camille Yarbrough
Perhaps best known in the children’s literature world for her pioneering picture book, Cornrows (illustrated by Carole Byard), Nana Camille Yarbrough is an acclaimed singer, actress (co-starred in Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black), dancer (toured with Katherine Dunham), activist, educator and middle-grade novelist. Her books, The Shimmershine Queens, The Little Tree Growing in the Shade [ Read the full article… ]
Day 10: Eric-Shabazz Larkin
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, is Eric-Shabazz Larkin’s stunning debut into the world of children’s literature. The book is written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and published by Readers to Eaters Books in 2013. It has received critical acclaim. Eric-Shabazz Larkin a founder of the Creative School of Thought, a group of artists that produce content for [ Read the full article… ]
Day 9: Pamela Tuck
Pamela M. Tuck was born in Greenville, NC telling stories. As a child, Pamela entertained her family by recording her own voice and telling “made up silly stories.” She won her first poetry contest in elementary school and continued to write short stories and plays. Her picture book, AS FAST AS WORDS COULD FLY, was [ Read the full article… ]
DAY 8: LAMAR GILES
Lamar Giles grew up in a small, riverfront city in Virginia called Hopewell. It is a diverse community known for its busy ports. Like most towns in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Hopewell is highly decorated with American history. Mr. Giles later moved to Chesapeake, Virginia, another city rich with history and natural wonders, where he [ Read the full article… ]
Day 7: Zetta Elliott
When we first spotlighted Zetta Elliott during our 2009 28 Days Later Campaign, we were celebrating the release Bird (Lee and Low, 2008), her picture book with illustrator Shadra Strickland. A critical darling, Bird received a number of accolades, including winning a Lee and Low New Voices Honor Award, receiving a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe [ Read the full article… ]
Day 6: Michele Wood
Michele Wood is an award-winning artist, educator, and visual historian. She has been honored with the prestigious American Book Award for her first book, Going Back Home (Children’s Book Press), and is a 1999 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award recipient for her beautifully illustrated book I See The Rhythm (Zonderkidz). Michele’s most recent book, I [ Read the full article… ]
Day 5: Linda Trice
Not many people can say they learned from a literary star. But children’s book author Linda Trice received that honor twice. Sterling Brown, considered the Dean of Black poetry, and John Oliver Killens, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated novelist, were both her mentors. Their lessons about celebrating the beauty of black people and writing with love shines through in her [ Read the full article… ]