Tameka Fryer Brown is Not Done Yet (And I’m So Glad)

Award-winning picture book author and BBS fam Tameka Fryer Brown is well known for her lyrical and spare but gorgeously poetic prose. From her early Around Our Way on Neighbors’ Day and My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood, to the more recent Brown Baby Lullaby and Twelve Dinging Doorbells, Tameka’s words are truly music [ Read the full article… ]

Something Very Special

Today, the Brown Bookshelf is thrilled to celebrate the release of Desiree Cooper’s NOTHING SPECIAL, her picture book debut! “Nothing Special is…about a Detroit boy named Jax, who travels to Virginia to spend time with his grandparents. He thinks he’s going to do all the city things he loves, but his PopPop has other ideas,” [ Read the full article… ]

WE CAN: Portraits of Power by Tyler Gordon

“When I was born, the doctors told my mom that if I did survive I would have lots of health problems and be blind, deaf and severely mentally delayed . . . Boy were they wrong!” —Tyler Gordon Fifteen-year-old Tyler Gordon has had a lot to manage in his young life. He is partially deaf [ Read the full article… ]

Wade Hudson on DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South

“With his compelling memoir, Hudson will inspire young readers to emulate his ideals and accomplishments.” –Booklist, Starred Review Getting to know Wade Hudson is such a treat and a privilege, and his middle grade memoir DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, is a genuine blessing. In DEFIANT, readers will get a glimpse of [ Read the full article… ]

Book cover of Recognize Anthology

Recognize: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life – The Conversation

Many times, the Brown Bookshelf family turns to Wade and Cheryl Hudson for inspiration and institutional knowledge of Black creatives in publishing – both our triumphs and our tribulations. It was our honor to sit with the Hudsons and contributors Nikki Grimes and London Ladd to talk about their latest project, an innovative and groundbreaking [ Read the full article… ]

Mae Makes A Way

COVER REVEAL: MAE MAKES A WAY

Oh my goodness, this one was a DREAM. I’m so excited to share this exquisite cover by Andrea Pippins for MAE MAKES A WAY: The True Story of Mae Reeves, Hat and History Maker, my upcoming picture book with artist Andrea Pippins, for Random House Kids and the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History [ Read the full article… ]

African Icons Cover Reveal!

We are thrilled to share the cover for Brown Bookshelf board member Tracey Baptiste. This book of narrative nonfiction features ten people from all over the African continent who were movers and shakers in world history. It illuminates a part of Black history that often (always) gets left out during Black history month celebrations–the thousands [ Read the full article… ]