Joyful Author Updates

Sharing a few exciting author wins and news that have developed over the last few weeks.

I want to share a few of the joyful creative news updates I have received as we begin to transition into summer. I have won my first book award.

Keep Dreaming, Black Child won a 2024 Silver Nautilus Book Award in the Children’s Picture Book (Large Press) category !

Thank you Nautilus Book Awards for recognizing our book! It is lovely to be recognized through an award that centers books aimed at creating change in the world which is one hundred precent my creative intent. I always hope my work is a catalyst for action and creative inspiration towards a just and liberated world for all. I welcome critique because I am human and hope that my work inspires others to fill gaps I may miss or unintentionally didn’t meet.

I had a great interview with Betsy Bird which is up on the SLJ Fuse #8 blog:

The thing we don’t talk about when we talk about children’s literature, and the thing that maybe I like best about it as a grown adult, is the fact that because we live in such a great era of books for kids right now, we, the adults, are often learning right alongside our children. Hoodoo, the set of religious beliefs and practices that center on ancestor veneration, justice, and a botanical practice of healing and harm known as rootwork, was first introduced to me in the middle grade novel Root Magic by Eden Royce. Since that book I’ve seen other titles for older readers cover the topic, and it’s been long overdue. What haven’t I seen, though? Books for younger kids covering the same topic.

Enter Nyasha Williams. She’s been in the children’s literature game for quite a while, and now she has Saturday Magic: A Hoodoo Story coming out on June 11th with art by Sawyer Cloud. — Betsy Bird