Author: Don Tate

Picture book guy here. I love the art of telling stories with words and pictures. And I get all excited when I find a new picture book in my mailbox, a book sent to me by publishers for mention here at the Brown Bookshelf. Thing is, I’ve been so busy with my own book projects, [ Read the full article… ]

My Brother Charlie (Scholastic Press), written by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete, with illustrations by Shane W. Evans, is a heartwarming story of patience, love and acceptance. Young Callie and Charlie are twins with a lot in common – curly hair and brown eyes, a love for chocolate with marshmallows, music and football. [ Read the full article… ]

Lee & Low Books, an independent children’s book publisher specializing in diversity, has now acquired Tu Publishing, which was founded by Stacy Whitman in the fall of 2009. The new imprint, Tu Books, will publish multicultural Middle Grade, YA fantasy and science fiction. See the official press release here. “This is a natural fit for [ Read the full article… ]

Looking Like Me written by Walter Dean Myers illustrated by Christopher Myers Published by Egmont, 2009 Walter Dean Myers is a writer and photographer, a flute player and cat lover. Christopher Myers is an artist and writer, a clothes designer, a dancer. Together this father-son duo created the picture book Looking Like Me, a collaboration [ Read the full article… ]

FIRST COME THE ZEBRA, written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch (Lee & Low Books, 2009). For thousands of years, millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle have journeyed through the plains of the Serengeti and the Massai Mara, in search of fresh water and grasses. It’s known as the annual ‘Great Migration.’ One day during the [ Read the full article… ]

Lee & Low Books, an award-winning publisher of quality multicultural books for children, is looking for skilled artists of color who can bring picture book stories to life with originality and authenticity. Their books feature children/people of color and fall within a range of genres including contemporary and historical fiction, biography, poetry, nonfiction, and more. [ Read the full article… ]

I’ve wanted to feature an African American cartoonist or a graphic novelist here for awhile now. Mama’s Boyz: Home Schoolin’ and Mama’s Boyz: As American as Sweet Potato Pie!, by author and illustrator Jerry Craft, are funny, informing, and inspirational. Don: How did you come to be an artist/cartoonist? Jerry: Ever since I was old [ Read the full article… ]

With so many deadlines looming, I won’t be able to contribute to the Brown Bookshelf blog as much as I’d like to. So instead, I’ve invited a few authors and illustrators to sit in as guests, to discuss their recent projects. R. Gregory Christie is a three-time Coretta Scott King honor recipient. He’s illustrated numerous [ Read the full article… ]