In Memoriam: Remembering Black Children's Writers, Illustrators, & Scholars

 



So many creatives in children's literature have passed over the years. I still have a newspaper clipping of an obituary for Gwendolyn Brooks that I look at from time to time. I want to remember and honor these artists because their work has meant so much to me.   

Ashley Bryanauthor, illustrator, teacher

Gwendolyn Brooks, poet

Lucille Clifton, poet

Floyd Cooper, author, illustrator

Leo Dillonillustrator

Eloise Greenfield, author

Virginia Hamilton, author

bell hooks, author, scholar

Julius Lester, author, teacher

Patricia McKissack, author

Walter Dean Myers, author

Jerry Pinkney, illustrator

Ntozake Shange, playwright, poet

Althea Tait, scholar

Joyce Carol Thomas, author, playwright

VivianYenika-Agbaw, scholar


*I realize some writers (e.g., hooks, Morrison, and Shange) may be more well-known for writing for adults rather than children.