Author: Gwendolyn Hooks

Last night as I listened to my bedtime YouTube music the letters J O H N  L E W I S scrolled across the screen. There was no need to click on them. I knew what it meant. We had lost another soldier of the Civil Rights Movement and an award-winning children’s book author. Four [ Read the full article… ]

  On February 8, 2017, Brown Bookshelf member, Tracey Baptiste interviewed Leah Henderson about her upcoming novel, One Shadow on the Wall. Leah discussed the spark that led to the idea, her writing process that led to an agent, an editor and a book soon to be published. Her story was fascinating. Read it here [ Read the full article… ]

I seem to keep running into Faith Ringgold. Not literally. I have never driven a car in New York. Her books seem to find their way into my hands and I saw one of her quilts in all its glory. Then I stumbled onto a fascinating article written by her daughter. I attended the American [ Read the full article… ]

It’s always nice to have a personal connection with the authors and illustrators we feature on The Brown Bookshelf. As much as we admire them, it reminds our readers and the BBS’s bloggers that they could be living on the next block or the person in front of us in the grocery self-service line. I [ Read the full article… ]

Let me re-introduce you to R. Gregory Christie along with his picture book, Mousetropolis. Christie visited the Brown Bookshelf during our 28 Days Later campaign on February 4, 2015. During that interview, I was struck by his phrase, “… artist who can alter the human form with an eloquence and rhythm.” I interpreted artist as [ Read the full article… ]

  I interviewed Tracey for the Brown Bookshelf in 2012. As she shared Angel’s Grace with me, I quickly became a member of the Tracey admiration club. She writes. She edits. She encourages and she shares her knowledge with young people. Today, Tracey is giving the Brown Bookshelf and its readers the inside scoop on [ Read the full article… ]

  I’m a dreamer. I grew up in a lower middle class environment where the stretch goal was simply survival. Many of my neighbors had never ventured far from the city. Reading wasn’t a popular hobby. Dreams were for other people. But my mother introduced me to every free or low cost cultural program she [ Read the full article… ]

  I bet “a new bike” is on plenty of Dear Santa letters. Whether Santa agrees or not, every child should have a copy of New Red Bike. It’s a deceptively simple story of friendship—an even greater gift. Join James in his studio to understand how it evolved. Listen. Isn’t that Get the Funk blasting [ Read the full article… ]