KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Illustrators

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 3 Nikkolas Smith

Some people score book deals through agents. Some get them by submitting work directly to a publisher. Nikkolas Smith, a concept artist and imagineer, landed his first children’s book contract by posting a painting online. His rendering of Olympian Simone Biles right after she won gold went viral and inspired him to create a painting of the […]

via Day 3: Nikkolas Smith —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Authors

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 5 Olive Senior

Olive Senior’s work has been broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic, including the BBC Book at Bedtime and the CBC Festival of Fiction. Her work has been included in the Best Poems on the Underground published by London Transport, and she is a featured poet on The Poetry Archive. Senior’s work often addresses questions […]

via Day 5: OLIVE SENIOR —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Authors, Uncategorized

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 6 LaTisha Redding

Today we shine the spotlight on another debut picture book author, LaTisha Redding. Her first title, Calling the Water Drum (Lee & Low, December 2016, illus.by Aaron Boyd) is the story of Henri, a young immigrant from Haiti who loses his parents as they attempt to make their way “across the great waters” to America. […]

via Day 6: LaTisha Redding —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Illustrators

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 7 Jeffery Weatherford

As a child, Jeffery B. Weatherford had “large hands.” It was a fact that prompted a prediction from his grandmother: someday Jeffery would do something great with those hands. She was right. Jeffery Weatherford grew up to become a multi-talented fine artist and illustrator, who studied computer graphics and animation at Winston-Salem State University, on a full-ride scholarship. Fresh out of college, […]

via Day 7: Jeffery B. Weatherford —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Authors

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 8 Leah Henderson

Day 8 begins our focus on book creators for older readers, starting with Leah Henderson whose debut middle grade novel One Shadow on the Wall is due out in June. Leah’s adventuresome spirit and love of stories helped her turn a passing encounter into her first novel. I first met Leah at the Kweli Writers Conference in Spring […]

via Day 8: Leah Henderson —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Authors

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 11 Michael Cottman

Reading the bio page of Michael Cottman’s website, you can’t help but marvel at all of the ways he has used his gifts to make a difference. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Michael has extensively covered former President Barack Obama, offered political analysis for The Tom Joyner Morning Show, authored books on everything from the Million Man […]

via Day 11: Michael H. Cottman —

KRLemmons 28 Days Later Campaign, African American Authors

The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Campaign Day 12 Margot Lee Shetterly

The world knows Margot Lee Shetterly‘s work. Hidden Figures, the $125 million-grossing movie starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae, was based on her New York Times bestselling book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (William Morrow/HC, September 2016). The […]

via Day 12: Margot Lee Shetterly —