Thank you for your participation in our 28 Days Later nomination process. At this point, we will gather names that you submitted, as well as toss in our own. Please look for our announcement of the 28 Days Later, 2014 honorees towards the end of this year. Thanks again. The Brown Bookshelf Team
Author: Don Tate
28 Days Later, 2014, Call for Submissions
Get ready to rep your favorites. It’s that time. The submissions window has officially opened for the seventh annual 28 Days Later campaign, a Black History Month celebration of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels written and illustrated by African Americans. We will take nominations today through November 8th. Over the past six [ Read the full article… ]
Play ball! A look at recent baseball books
Given the release of “42,” the story of how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, we feature a couple of books about the legendary star and others. Jackie Robinson: American Hero, written by Sharon Robinson (Scholastic, 2013; ages 7 and up). In this comprehensive biography, Sharon Robinson introduces a new generation of readers [ Read the full article… ]
Book Report: Didn’t We Have Fun!
Didn’t We Have Fun! Written by Hilda Robinson and Jeff Kunkel Featuring paintings by Hilda Robinson Published by Crickhollow Books First off, I enjoyed everything about this book — its poetic prose, its vibrant art, its aura of a down-home African American culture gone by. The book captured it all so perfectly. Didn’t We Have [ Read the full article… ]
Happy dancing at the Brown Bookshelf, ALA 2013 Coretta Scott King Award winners
Yesterday The American Library Association announced its 2013 book award winners, which left us at the Brown Bookshelf happy dancing all over the place. Ellen’s Broom, written by Kelly Starling Lyons, one of the Brown Bookshelf’s founding members, received a Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor. Daniel Minter, featured next month during our 2013 28 Days Later campaign, [ Read the full article… ]
Book Report: Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad
Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad Author-Illustrator Henry Cole Scholastic Press, 2012 First of all, my reader, please don’t take anything in this book report as negative. I love this book! The marketing folks at Scholastic mailed it to me, I’m supposing, because they consider it a diversity book. And we are a diversity [ Read the full article… ]
Kelly Starling Lyons and Don Tate celebrate the publication of Hope’s Gift
Today Brown Bookshelf members Kelly Starling Lyons and Don Tate celebrate the publication of their new book, Hope’s Gift (Putnam Juvenile, December 27, 2012). Kelly writes a poignant story that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Don Tate illustrates this significant moment in American history. Kirkus describes: “A warm story about the love of [ Read the full article… ]
A look at 2012 Best-Of lists. Considering, celebrating diversity
[Updated Dec. 28, 2012] It’s Best-of season! It’s that time of year when review journals, newspapers, and book lovers of all kinds choose the best children’s books in a given year. I love it. Reminds me of Academy Award season in the movie business. Everyone talks about the best movie, actor/actress, director. And then everyone rushes [ Read the full article… ]