Category Archives: Illustrator Honor

African American Storytelling and Traditions with Carole Boston Weatherford

Image Credit: Delandrus Seales

Nearly one year ago, Coretta Scott King Book Award Honoree and three-time Caldecott Honoree, Carole Boston Weatherford, traveled to Wilmington, NC, a coastal town, with her award-winning illustrator son Jeffrey Weatherford to share their traditions and storytelling to fourth-grade students in the library at Dr. John Codington Elementary School.

Entrancing the audience with African rhythms on the djembe, a slow cadence of call-and-response spirituals, and spoken word poetry, the Weatherfords immersed students into the world of the African-American experience. The Weatherford family history was told through their published literature. African American traditions of storytelling sessions with grandparents and African Americans who changed the world highlighted the visit.

Image Credit: Delandrus Seales

Between taps on the tambourine and the pulsing of the shekere, Carol and Jeffrey Weatherford showcased North Carolina’s participation in critical events from the Civil Rights movement during their read alouds of CSK John Steptoe Award Winner Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins and Sink or Swim: African American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks.

Jeffrey shared his early illustrative works from childhood. Students asked questions about his journey to becoming an award-winning illustrator. His interests in art began when his family celebrated his early class doodles drawn when he was supposed to be taking notes in class and framed his works. He told the students about self-portraits and anime drawings. Jeffrey enamored the students with a time-lapsed video of his illustrative process.

Making music with their spoken word and lyrical presentations of their published works, the Weatherfords graced the Codington school community with an incredible experience and performance that ignited continued studies in African American history, the African diaspora, and award-winning literature that continued throughout the school year.

Students’ non-fiction studies with Weatherford’s texts continued long after their visit during remote learning. CSK Author Honor title Becoming Billie Holiday and CSK Illustrator Honor title Before John Was a Jazz Giant were utilized during their studies during International Jazz month and Black History Month. Archival footage of Billie Holiday and John Coltrane’s performances entranced the students while showing them the inspiration for Weatherford’s works.

Image Credit: Delandrus Seales

A regular rotation of book displays along with the integration of Weatherford’s texts during instruction, both in-person and remote, enriched students’ understanding of the historical impact made by the Greensboro Four, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday. Thanks to Carole Boston Weatherford’s texts and her visit, fourth-grade students in the Codington Elementary library have fortified their understanding of African American heroes, traditions, and storytelling and are enthusiastic about continuing their learning.

— — —

Delandrus Seales is a member of the CSK Executive Board as the CSK Publications Standing Committee Chair and a member of the CSK Technology Standing Committee. She is a Branch Manager with Onslow County Public Library, and a former school librarian in North Carolina. Delandrus completed her M.L.S. at East Carolina University and her M.S. Ed at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

A Shared Vision: 2020 CSK, Newbery & Caldecott Award Winners

For over five decades, the Coretta Scott King Book Award has provided a platform for showcasing the talents of numerous authors and illustrators. Historically speaking, the CSK Award has recognized African American authors and illustrators where no such distinction existed before.   CSK awardees are literary luminaries who have successfully brought African American children’s literature out of the shadows, thus providing much-needed diversity in children’s literature.

The announcement of the ALA 2020 Youth Media Awards marked an unprecedented milestone. For the first time in the history of children’s literature awards, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards as well as the Newbery and Caldecott Medals chose the same winning books:  The Undefeated (Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson won both the CSK Illustrator Award and the Caldecott Medal.  Additionally, the New Kid (Harper) written and illustrated by Jerry Craft won the CSK Author Award and the Newbery Medal. An examination of the Newbery and Caldecott selections over time and their consideration of African American awardees yields some interesting insights.  

Established in 1922, the Newbery Medal is the oldest children’s literature award.  In 1975, Virginia Hamilton became the first African American author to win the Newbery Medal for her M. C. Higgins, the Great (Macmillan). Two African American authors followed:  Mildred D. Taylor for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Dial) in 1977 and Kwame Alexander for The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in 2015. In addition, some twenty-six African American authors have been recognized with Newbery Honor Awards.  Yet, the Newbery has chosen the same book as the CSK Book Awards jury only one other time.  This occurred in 2000 for Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte)  by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Since 1937, the Randolph Caldecott Medal has annually recognized the most distinguished American picture book for children and is awarded to an illustrator. The first Caldecott Medal awarded to an African American occurred in 1976 and went to Leo and Diane Dillon, an interracial couple, for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (Dial) written by Verna Aardema. The Dillons won a second medal in 1977 for Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (Dial) written by Margaret MusgroveIn 2010, Jerry Pinkney became the first solo African American illustrator to win a Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse (Little, Brown and Company)At present, some thirty African American illustrators have been awarded Caldecott Honors. However, the only other time an illustrator won both the CSK Award and Caldecott Medal was in 2017 when Javaka Steptoe received both for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquitat (Little, Brown and Company). 

These prize-winning books have continued to influence reading choices and inspire young readers. And while the CSK, Newberry and Caldecott  have long served as guides to those seeking the best in children’s literature, it’s rare that the juries of these prestigious book awards have shared the same vision.   Bravo to new directions! 

——

Carolyn L. Garnes served as CSK Book Awards Chair from 1993 to 1997.

LAPL Welcomes Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards Exhibition

Entrance to Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award exhibition. Artwork by Ekua Holmes, winner of the 2018 CSK Illustrator Award. Image credit: Michael McLinn

Thursday evening, November 14, 2019, was the opening reception of Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards in the Getty Gallery of the Los Angeles Central Library in Los Angeles, California. This traveling exhibition is the culminating activity of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The exhibition features over 100 works from more than 30 CSK winners and honor illustrators and will remain on view through January 27, 2020. Our Voice is the largest and most comprehensive presentation of CSK Illustrator winners and honors ever assembled since the award was established in 1974.

From left to right: Kren Malone, John Szabo, Dr. Claudette McLinn, and Jené Brown. Image credit: Los Angeles Public Library.

Invited guests were greeted upon entering the exhibition by the magnificent cover art of Ekua Holmes, winner of the 2018 illustrator award for the book Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets. This masterful exhibit was arranged in chronological sequence, beginning with George Ford’s winning illustration of the biography Ray Charles in 1974 to the present. 

Guests were welcomed by Jené D. Brown, Principal Librarian, Engagement & Outreach, and Kren Malone, Central Library Director. Guests also heard remarks from John F. Szabo, City Librarian, and Dr. Claudette S. McLinn, Immediate Past-Chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee. Special remarks were delivered by Ernest Wilson, husband of CSK 1991 illustration award winner Kathleen Atkins Wilson, whose artwork titled The Storyteller appears on the advertisement of the show. 

Guests at the Our Voice opening reception in the Getty Gallery, Los Angeles Central Library. Image credit: Michael McLinn

Our Voice was curated by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) in Abilene, Texas, in partnership with the Coretta Scott King Books Awards Committee of the American Library Association’s Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). Guests enjoyed refreshments by Chef Marilyn of Los Angeles, cake by Big Sugar Bakeshop, and received gift bags which included a timeline of CSK events, a magnet and pin, accompanied by bookmarks. This is indeed a remarkable exhibition and a must-see for those visiting the Los Angeles area.

Our Voice exhibition storytelling area for children. Image credit: Michael McLinn

————————-

Dr. Claudette S. McLinn is the Immediate Past-Chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee, 2017-2019. She is Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL).




Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards Opens at the Eric Carle Museum

Our Voice Exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Photo credit: Dr. McLinn

Saturday, October 20, 2018, was the special opening reception of Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. This traveling art exhibition was assembled through the collaboration of the American Library Association and the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL). This exhibition features 100 works of art from 38 CSK winners and honor illustrators and remains on view through January 27, 2019. Our Voice is the largest and most comprehensive presentation of CSK illustrator winners and honors ever assembled since the illustrator award was established in 1974.

Ellen Keiter, Reynolds Ruffin, Ekua Holmes, Gordon C. James, Jerry Pinkney, and George C. Ford from left to right.
Photo credit: Dr. McLinn

Several of the CSK illustrator winner and honor award recipients were present at the opening reception. The illustrators include George C. Ford, the first recipient and winner of the CSK Illustrator Award in 1974; Reynolds Ruffin, 1997 honor awardee; JoeSam, 1988 honor awardee; Charles R. Smith, Jr., 2010 award winner; Gordon C. James, 2018 honor awardee; and Ekua Holmes, 2018 award winner. A special one-hour program in the auditorium featured Ekua Holmes and Gordon C. James in conversation with Jerry Pinkney.

Ekua Holmes and Gordon C. James, in conversation with Jerry Pinkney.
Photo credit: Dr. McLinn

This exhibition was curated by Ellen Keiter, chief curator at The Eric Carle Museum, and her super creative staff. iPad stations were provided where visitors had the opportunity to listen to audio clips of many of the artists speaking about their work in their own voice. In addition, small cards with quotations by Coretta Scott King were provided free for guests to take home.

This is a remarkable exhibition. If you are in the greater Boston area, please visit and make the trip with family or colleagues.

Dr. Claudette McLinn is Chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee. She is the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature.

Telling a People’s Story: Art Exhibition and Conference

The Miami University Art Museum (MUAM) in Oxford, Ohio, currently boasts a treasure trove of original artwork from African American children’s book illustrators. This picture book gold can be found in Telling a People’s Story: African American Children’s Illustrated Literature, an exhibition of approximately 130 works by 33 artists from 88 books, which runs at MUAM through June 30.

Courtesy of the Miami University Art Museum

Among the artwork on display are pieces from Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awardees past and present, from Tom Feelings and John Steptoe to Ekua Holmes and Kadir Nelson. And, in a nice touch that one doesn’t often see at art galleries, visitors can find and read the books the art came from below each piece while browsing the exhibit.

A conference will take place in conjunction with the art exhibition from April 20-21 at MUAM. Among the CSK alums presenting at the conference are R. Gregory Christie, Ekua Holmes, E.B. Lewis, Jerry Pinkney, Javaka Steptoe, and Shadra Strickland.

Jason Shaiman, Curator of Exhibitions at MUAM, said of this conference: “I’m so excited to be able to bring several major illustrators together in one place, and to hear their perspectives…. [In a picture book], we hear the words of the author through their words, and we see the voice of the illustrator through their illustrations, but [the conference] is an opportunity to actually hear the words of the illustrators.”

Courtesy of the Miami University Art Museum

For more information on the exhibit and conference, please visit http://blogs.miamioh.edu/tellingapeoplesstory/. In addition, local radio profiled the exhibit here and here.

Sam Bloom is Senior Children’s Librarian at the Blue Ash branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. He is the Chair of the CSK Book Awards Jury.

YMA Awards, CSK, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, and Congressman John Lewis: What a day!

Anticipation ran high as the crowd began to gather at 6:00 a.m. for the 8:00 a.m. American Library Association Youth Media Awards on Monday, January 23, 2017, held in the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Many distinguished books were published in 2016; the buzz and enthusiasm were practically palatable as one entered the rapidly filling room.   As the committees entered to sit in the reserved spaces, we got a shot of the Coretta Scott King committee settling in.  The Coretta Scott King Award jury was chaired by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, who had a great day herself.  

Before the book awards were announced, we learned that Dr. Sims Bishop was honored as the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. After the standing ovation, CSK Awards Committee Chair Pauletta Brown Bracy had to ask Dr. Sims Bishop to stand so that the crowd could see her!

The CSK (Author) Medal was awarded to Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, who won an unprecedented number of awards for March: Book Three, including Printz, Sibert, and YALSA Nonfiction), while the CSK Andrew Aydin (Illustrator) Medal was awarded to Javaka Steptoe for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Steptoe also won the Caldecott Medal.

CSK  (Author) Honors were awarded to Jason Reynolds for As Brave As Me and Ashley Bryan for Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life. Bryan also won a CSK (Illustrator) Honor for Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life. CSK (Illustrator) Honors were also awarded to R. Gregory Christie for Freedom in Congo Square and Jerry Pinkney for In Plain Sight.

The John Steptoe New Talent Award was given to Nicole Yoon for The Sun is Also a Star.

Post by Liz Deskins