Our sincere thanks to all of the ALA participants who joined The Brown Bookshelf in paying tribute to our favorite children’s books created for and by African Americans (and those of the African diaspora). Below are the links to the book lists we promised: BBS Nonfiction BBS Fiction BBS “Celebrating Diversity” Book Recommendations Thanks again for all you do to [ Read the full article… ]

A Brown Bookshelf reader let me know  that there are two Plum Street publishing companies – Plum Street Press, based in New Orleans, and Plum Street Publishers, based in Arkansas, which issued the call for submissions. So sorry for the mix-up. Lucky for us, both are open to new work: Here’s what I wrote about Plum [ Read the full article… ]

We’re taking our show on the road. Several of us will be at ALA for panels, programs and signings. We’d love to see you. Please join us if you’re free and spread the word. Here’s a schedule of our events: Friday, June 24 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Writer’s Block/Winter Park Public Library (Don Tate and [ Read the full article… ]

We’re thrilled to share that our family has grown. Please join us in welcoming two stand-outs in the kidlit world to our Brown Bookshelf team – author and editor Tracey Baptiste and author/illustrator Jerry Craft. Tracey announced a new book deal last month. She’s writing a sequel to her award-winning novel The Jumbies. Yesterday, Jerry was [ Read the full article… ]

We’re the People, a collaboration of authors, bloggers, academics, and librarians who share a passion for children, literacy, and diversity, has released their 2016 Summer Reading List! The focus of the list are books that are written or illustrated by Native Americans or writers/illustrators of color that have withstood a critical review. You can find the full annotated [ Read the full article… ]

When author/illustrator Don Tate invited me to write a blogpost about Malaika’s Costume, I thought.  Of course.  Why not?  Why don’t I take this opportunity to ask all of the questions, the sorts of questions I get asked all the time, the sorts of questions I wished I was asked about this book?  Ladies and gentleman.  [ Read the full article… ]

Each year, the African American Children’s Book Fair in Philadelphia celebrates the beauty of literature by black children’s book creators. Founded by literary publicist and advocate Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, it is known as “one of the oldest and largest single-day events for children’s books in the country.” Thousands of parents, children, teachers, librarians and book lovers come to [ Read the full article… ]

When I think about picture book series starring black characters, Linda Trice’s proud and creative Kenya immediately comes to mind. Trice, a 2014 28 Days Later honoree, released the first two books – Kenya’s Word and Kenya’s Song – to critical acclaim. Now, she’s back with another winner – Kenya’s Art (illustrated by Hazel Mitchell, published by Charlesbridge) – [ Read the full article… ]