Blog
My book got banned. What to do now?
Over the past few years, I watched incredulously as books for young readers got challenged or banned. The majority were created by Black people, people of color, Indigenous, and/or LGBTQ+ writers and illustrators. I wondered about my own books. Had my books been banned, too? In a self protection measure, I did not look. I […]
TLA is back and in person!
Oh, my—I haven’t created a new blog post in six years! And Word Press has changed! I actually had to Google “How to create a blog post in Word Press.” Change never ends, I guess. But there is one change I do welcome: the Texas Library Association conference is back and in person! It’s been […]
Cover reveal!
After a long, sometimes treacherous, yet fulfilling journey, we have a cover! My next picture book biography, “Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes,” will publish with Abrams on August 17, 2021. That’s lightening fast by publishing standards, especially considering that I was still tweaking final art and text this time last […]
Banking on Booksellers
This summer, I painted a pig. No, not a real pig, a molded, clay, piggy bank. It’s for a fundraiser offered by BINC Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Over 90 authors, illustrators, and celebrities have come together to support the only nonprofit in the country that is dedicated to helping booksellers in times of hardship. Proceeds from […]
Summer Vacation + A New School Year and New Books!
It’s been quite a while since I’ve last posted. And I don’t have a good excuse, I’ve had most of the summer off. Over the summer, my wife and I celebrated our 25-year wedding anniversary in the Dominican Republic. We had such a fantastic time swimming in a large pool that wrapped the resort. We visiting […]
A photo recap of my time at Miami University’s art exhibit: Telling A People’s Story
What an honor is it to have my artwork included in a first-of-its-kind art exhibit, Telling A People’s Story: African American Children’s Illustrated Literature. The exhibit is being held at Miami University in Oxford, OH, through June 30th, 2018. In addition to exhibiting, I was invited to speak at a public event, and to university […]
Honoring the Super Women who Run the Brown Bookshelf
Last year, we at The Brown Bookshelf, a blog dedicated to highlighting youth literature written and/or illustrated by African-Americans, celebrated our tenth anniversary. This past February, Black History Month, we hosted our eleventh “28 Days Later” initiative. Each day, we featured an African-American creator of youth literature. As a founding member of that blog, I can tell […]
A “STRONG AS SANDOW” book launch celebration! A visual report
Yesterday, I held a book launch celebration for my new book, STRONG AS SANDOW: HOW EUGEN SANDOW BECAME THE STRONGEST MAN ON EARTH (Charlesbridge, 2017). We held it at BookPeople, Austin’s wonderful independent book store. Attendees described the day as: “Wowza,” “stupendous,” “fantastic.” And most of all, “STRONG!” After I spoke, raw food health guru, Andrew […]
Whoosh! is a A Cook Prize Honor Book and a Children’s Choice Nominee!
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, 2016), written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Don Tate is a 2017 Cook Prize Finalist. The Cook Prize honors the best science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture book published for children aged eight to ten and is the only national children’s choice award honoring a STEM book. […]
How Attending the SCBWI National Conferences Can Help Writers/Illustrators of Color
As a book creator of color, I know how intimidating it can be to attend a children’s book writing and illustrating conference, in a sea of people who don’t look like you (especially if you’ve never attended a conference). But I also understand that giving in to fear is the best way to never realizing your dreams. […]