Last year, a debate of sorts launched surrounding our name, The Brown Bookshelf.  Not just among those visiting our site, but among BBS members as well. Why hadn’t we called the group The Black Bookshelf? After all, the founding members are African American and our primary focus is on books by and for African American readers. And [ Read the full article… ]

Mmmm…smell that? It’s the scent of rubber burning as life in the literary lane speeds up. Before you know it, there will be talk of Caldecotts, Printzes and Coretta Scott Kings. There is no better time to be an author than when the rubber meets the road and people are talking books. Whew, I almost [ Read the full article… ]

Forgive me, I think I’ve spoken about this before.  But I think it’s an issue worth re-discussion, if that indeed is a word. Every now and again, I suffer from internetus overloadicus.  It’s bound to happen when you have a website, a Myspace, a Facebook, a blog, are a member of several Yahoo groups, regular [ Read the full article… ]

A little over a year ago, I, along with four of my colleagues in the kid-lit industry, joined together to form The Brown Bookshelf – an online community charged with highlighting both established and up-and-coming African-American children’s and YA authors and illustrators. Our 2008 – 28 Days Later Campaign was a huge success, and I’m [ Read the full article… ]

I received two very cool books in the mail today, Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. And We Are The Ship, written and illustrated by Kadir (I already have this book, but shhh!). So what’s up with the Kadir books? I’ve been granted the [ Read the full article… ]

While surfing the net today, I discovered one more Barack Obama children’s book to add to my list, Barack, written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by AG Ford (read his blog). I haven’t read the book, yet (maybe they’ll send me a review copy), but the cover illustration is off the chain. Do they still [ Read the full article… ]

My six-year-old son was a staunch Hillary supporter. I didn’t have a problem with that; I was happy his mind was open to a woman president. What bothered me, however, was his attitude toward Obama. “I don’t want a Black president,” I overheard him say to a playmate. And he got quite emotional on caucus [ Read the full article… ]

Are you an unpublished writer of children’s fiction or nonfiction, who is a person of color? It’s not too late to submit a manuscript to Lee & Low Books Ninth Annual New Voices Award. Submissions are still being accepted through October 31, 2008. See the Lee & Low Books website for more information. Congratulations to [ Read the full article… ]