On Tuesday, April 30, the Takoma Park Maryland Library and Politics & Prose hosted a special celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and it truly was a conversation for the ages. Skillfully led by moderator Deborah D. Taylor, our two presenters, legendary poet Eloise Greenfield and best-selling author Jason Reynolds, talked about how and why they write for children, their mutual love of the “musicality” of language, and the importance for all young readers to see themselves in books.

Taylor succinctly summed up the importance and celebratory feeling of the evening for the audience of over 150 people by noting that “it is something very special and very unusual to be able to talk to two people who have been both at the beginning of something and at the current level of recognition of outstanding work.”

In fact, all three people on the stage at our event were Coretta Scott King Award winners: Greenfield and Taylor are both winners of the CSK-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award (Taylor in 2015, and Greenfield in 2018), and Reynolds has won the 2015 CSK-John Steptoe Award for new talent and three CSK Author Honors. Taylor stunned Reynolds by telling him that only one other author had won Coretta Scott King Awards in four consecutive years: Virginia Hamilton. Reynolds noted in an Instagram post later that evening, “I couldn’t believe it. Virginia Hamilton and me. Isabell’s son. I’m still reeling from that.” 

The through-line from Greenfield, who will soon turn 90, to the 35-year-old Reynolds is a strong and personal one. Indeed, Reynolds spoke of how he once worked in a bookstore specializing in African American writers and hand-sold, and also purchased for his own young relatives, many copies of Greenfield’s classic book, Honey, I Love. But Reynolds’ connection to Greenfield began even earlier; when he was 15 years old, he heard Greenfield read from her books at the main branch of the Washington, D.C. library system.

“It means the world to me, 20 years later, to sit next to her and share a stage,” Reynolds said, adding that Greenfield’s writing “helped me to understand another version of what poetry could be… how much you could say with a bit of brevity.”

Greenfield, meanwhile, talked about what drew her into the world of children’s literature, with a special focus on African American children. “… it was very important to me to see that this work was being done,” she said. “My goal is to make children know how much they are loved…. I want them to be proud of themselves and have confidence in themselves because the world is not always that kind to them and to us who are Black.”

Greenfield and Reynolds also talked about their writing process. In the Q&A following the main presentation, Greenfield, who has just published Thinker: My Puppy Poet and Me, was asked to describe the “peaks” and the “pits” of writing. Greenfield responded, “It’s all tough.” She added that, because she writes for children, “people ask, ‘Didn’t you have fun writing this? No, I didn’t! I want the children who read it to have fun, but I didn’t have fun…. It’s hard work, but it’s very, very satisfying work.” Reynolds agreed, noting, “I tell everyone, ‘If you like it, somebody really suffered for it.”

One of the most interesting questions of the evening was asked by a young audience member, who asked if Greenfield and Reynolds would ever collaborate. Reynolds immediately replied, “It would be my dream.” Greenfield added, “That would be wonderful.”

These are just a few of the many unforgettable moments during our 50^th CSK anniversary event. Fortunately, there’s a way for everyone to enjoy the entire evening by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/ulz6JsKoya4. It’s well worth watching!

Karen MacPherson is the children’s & young adult manager at the Takoma Park Maryland Library, a member of the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT), and on the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Board of Directors.

On April 23, in Langston Hughes’s Harlem brownstone living room, four Coretta Scott King Award recipients gathered to share their stories of winning the honor and what it means to them. Mutual admiration radiated from Lesa Cline-Ransome, Tiffany Jackson, Renee Watson, and Rita Williams-Garcia, to the delight of the enthusiastic audience. Perched next to one of Hughes’s typewriters, Jennifer Baker from Minorities in Publishing moderated the four writers through a discussion of their inspirations and paths to authorship. Then, on an eventful morning, their phones rang to make them award winners.

Cline-Ransome described her joy at being recognized for Finding Langston after nearly two decades of publishing books for young readers. She explained that children’s literature allowed her to investigate people’s lives and follow her passion for writing without talking to interview subjects, as a journalist would. As a child, Jackson, the John Steptoe New Talent Award winner for Monday’s Not Coming, sought out the CSK “sticker books” but never imagined becoming a recipient herself. She confessed how little she knew about the award process before publishing her first YA novel; CSK regular Jason Reynolds broke it to her that she should expect to speak at the awards breakfast.

Renee Watson detailed the surreal experience of receiving calls about Piecing Me Together from the Newbery committee and the CSK jury on the same morning, hearing from the Newbery group first. When the phone rang a second time, her first thought was “no take backs!” but fortunately, the call came from the CSK committee with more wonderful news. Rita Williams-Garcia–a four-time CSK winner for Like Sisters on the Homefront, One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, and Gone Crazy in Alabama–reiterated the particular delight of recognition from the Coretta Scott King jury. “The N-bery is lovely, but winning the CSK is like hearing mama say she approves.”  

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee co-sponsored the event with the I, Too Arts Collective, a non-profit organization founded by Renee Watson and dedicated to cultivating underrepresented voices in the arts. The evening brought together librarians, students, writers, family, and more to celebrate these notable women and the award’s rich history. Asked about their own inspirations and influences, the authors offered support for each other. They shouted out some favorite CSK winners over the years, especially current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jacqueline Woodson, both for the lyricism of her writing and her way of being in the world. What they admire in her, they each strive to provide in their own writing: to reflect and validate the experience of other African-American readers, from D.C. to the Pacific Northwest. As the Coretta Scott King Book Award community honors the award’s impact for 50 years, these four authors demonstrate their power to inspire, commemorate, and shine a light.

Celebrate 50 Years Strong: The Coretta Scott King Awards KidLit TV recording: https://youtu.be/oChwalMPUyo

Robbin Friedman is a Children’s Librarian at the Chappaqua Public Library in Chappaqua, NY. She is a member of the CSK Community.

On April 27, the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) held a party at Central Library to launch a yearlong celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. Claudette McLinn, the Chair for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee, joined Jené Brown, Associate Director of the library’s Engagement and Outreach Department, to kick off festivities for children that included a storytime, coloring craft, party hats, and cake. Because Mrs. King would have turned 92 on April 27, the children also sang “Happy Birthday.”

Anniversary celebrations in LAPL’s 73-library system will feature events and programs at branches across the city throughout the year; an online Coretta Scott King 50th Anniversary Reading Challenge; and the “Our Voice” exhibit of original illustrations from Coretta Scott King Award-winning books, November 8, 2019 – January 27, 2020, at Central Library.

Presented annually, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.

Visit lapl.org/csk50 for details about LAPL’s reading challenge and upcoming 50th-anniversary events.

Jené Brown is Associate Director of the Los Angeles Public Library’s Engagement and Outreach Department. She serves as Recording Secretary for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee.

Photo credit: Gary Leonard