Skinny bio:
Don Tate is an award-winning illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, including Carter Reads The Newspaper (Peachtree Publishing, 2019), No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and his Kingdom in Kansas (Knopf, 2018), Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, 2016) The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (Eerdmans, 2015); many others.
He is also the author of Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Peachtree,2015); It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started To Draw (Lee & Low Books, 2102), both books are Ezra Jack Keats award winners, and most recently, Strong As Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became The Strongest Man on Earth (Charlesbridge, 2017).
New titles include Par-Tay! Dance of the Veggies (and their friends), written by Eloise Greenfield (Alazar, 2018), and Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, written by Michael Mahin (Clarion, 2018).
Forthcoming titles include William Still and his Freedom Stories: Father of the Underground Railroad (Peachtree Publishing Company, Nov. 2020), and Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, written by Suzanne Slade (Little Brown, Nov. 2020).
Don is a founding host of the The Brown Bookshelf –a blog dedicated to books for African American young readers; and a one-time member of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature.
He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.
Hefty bio:
Don Tate is an award-winning author, and the illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children. He is also one of the founding hosts of the blog The Brown Bookshelf – a blog designed to push awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers, with book reviews, author and illustrator interviews. Don frequently speaks at schools, public libraries and writing conferences, and has participates in book festivals throughout the country.
Below is a listing of a few of his books:
Roto And Roy To The Rescue (Little Brown, March. 2023).
Roto And Roy: Helicopter Heroes (Little Brown, Nov. 2022).
William Still and his Freedom Stories: Father of the Underground Railroad (Peachtree Publishing Company, Nov. 2020).
Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, written by Suzanne Slade (Little Brown, Feb. 2020).
Carter Reads The Newspaper, written by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Don Tate (Peachtree, Feb. 2019).
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas , written by Tonya Bolden (Knopf, Oct. 2018), is a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall of 2018.
Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, written by Michael Mahin (Clarion, 2018).
Par-Tay! Dance of the Veggies (and their friends), written by Eloise Greenfield (Alazar, 2018)
Strong As Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became The Strongest Man on Earth (Charlesbridge, 2017), is a Junior Library Guild Selection for the fall of 2017, and a Writer’s League of Texas honor book award winner.
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, 2016), has been named one of the best children’s books of the year by the American Booksellers Association, the American Society for Engineering Education, the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, the National Science Teachers Association, and more. It’s also made more that 20 state reading lists!
The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (Eerdmans, 2015), made the 2016 Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist, and a Carter G. Woodson award winner.
Other books includeThe Cart That Carried Martin(Charlesbridge, 2013) a Junior Library Guild Selection, 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People recipient, 2013 Blue Ribbon winner presented by The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and a North Carolina Book Award nominee;Hope’s Gift(Penguin, 2012), selected for the 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People; Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (Charlesbridge, 2011); She Loved Baseball (HarperCollins); and Ron’s Big Mission (Penguin).
Don is also the author ofIt Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started To Draw, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor winner. The book was also selected as a Kirkus Best Children’s Books List Selection, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, 2012, and a New York Public Library Top 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, as well as one of Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2012; and Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Author and illustrator, Peachtree), a Kirkus Best Book of 2015, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award winner, a recipient of a 2016 Christopher Award, winner of the Texas Institute of Letters book awards, a Writers’ League of Texas book award winner, and an SCBWI Crystal Kite, 2016 award, more.
Don is a founding host of the The Brown Bookshelf –a blog highlighting books created by African American authors and illustrators; and a member of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature.
He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Tammy, and his son, Kolby.