Author: Don Tate

I am thrilled to reveal the cover of my forthcoming picture book, A Poem for Dudley Randall, Poet and Publisher of the Black Arts Movement (Abrams, 2026).

A Poem for Dudley Randall: Poet and Publisher of the Black Arts Movement

ISBN: 978-1-4197-5435-7; Publication date: September 15, 2026; Abrams

Dudley Randall’s first published poem appeared in the Detroit Free Press when he was only 13 years old. He continued to write, and as he grew older, he realized that his voice could be powerful.

When calls for equal rights were growing louder during the civil rights movement, Randall wrote the “Ballad of Birmingham” in response to an incident of senseless violence against a Black community in Alabama—and suddenly, the world was paying attention to his words. 

But Randall knew that most publishing companies were ignoring Black writers. In 1965, he founded the groundbreaking Broadside Press to give a platform to Black creatives like Audre Lorde, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez, as well as his own work. Randall and his fellow writers used their literary voices to express pride in Black history and culture. 

Integrated throughout the story as well as the back matter, Randall’s most famous poems help bring the story alive. Back matter also includes more information about the famous figures and historical movements discussed in the narrative. 

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As a child, I didn’t understand poetry and saw poets as highbrow, artsy-fartsy types who spoke in florid language and convoluted metaphors. Their symbolic and ambiguous language flew clean over my literal-minded brain. As a kid, I found poetry frustrating. Poems seemed mysterious, hard to understand, and weird. Thankfully, I understand poetry better now, and I love it. Today, I primarily make my living as a poet. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wake up each morning to write sonnets. And I can’t recall ever writing a haiku. “Onomatopoeia” and “alliteration” are fairly new terms to me—and please don’t ask me to define them. Given all that, you may wonder how I can consider myself a poet. The reason is that I am a full-time writer and illustrator of picture books for children.

When I first wrote A POEM FOR DUDLEY RANDALL, I used straightforward prose. As usual, I struggled with sentence structure and paragraph formation. I fretted over how to make my words sound poetic. Those first drafts were pallid, to say the least. Then I wrote the story as a poem—and it came alive!

Picture books marry evocative words and images. They tell big stories in a compact space. They distill emotions and experiences to their core. Poetry is the heart of a picture book. Dudley Randall often described poetry as an efficient, concentrated form of language, one in which he could say in a few lines what might take pages of prose. I finally understood these concepts while researching and writing Randall’s biography.

Unlike me, Randall discovered the power of poetry as a child. He wrote his first poem at age 3 and published one at age 13. He studied influential poets and poetic forms, marking up his poems with scansion. Randall became a poet and a publisher of other poets’ work during the Black Arts and Civil Rights Movements, making their work more accessible. I look forward to introducing the story of Dudley Randall to children who may not consider themselves poets today but will after reading A POEM FOR DUDLEY RANDALL: POET AND PUBLISHER OF THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT (Abrams, Sept. 15, 2026).

Author Nikki Shannon Smith and author-illustrator Don Tate, both members of the Brown Bookshelf team, created a new book! “Prince: A Little Golden Book Biography” (Random House Children’s Books) chronicles the life of the iconic musician Prince and highlights his boundary-breaking artistry, fearless self-expression, and enduring influence on music, fashion, and culture. It is part of the Little Golden Book Biographies series.

On January 6, 2026, Nikki and Don launched their book at The Avid Reader Bookstore in Davis, California, Smith’s hometown. And the “Purple Party” was a huge hit! Nikki and Don discussed the process for writing and illustrating the book, Prince’s work ethic, and extensive music catalogue.

“I hope young readers will take away that they should be their authentic selves, pursue their dreams through hard work and dedication, and speak up and advocate for themselves and others,” Nikki says.

“I certainly related to some of the challenges Prince faced as a child,” Don says. “My parents also split up when I was young. But, like Prince, I poured my anxieties into creating art.”

The reception to the book has been a wonderful success. “When we started promoting the book, Prince fans across the world got excited, and people shared memories about concerts they attended, favorite songs, and even butting heads with strict parents over Prince music! As the release date approached and arrived, there was wonderful social media buzz with people tagging us about their preorders and the arrival of their books. One person even created a Prince-themed baby gift for her friend’s baby, including the book. We heard from a teacher who had integrated a photo of Prince into her technology lesson and was adding the book to her classroom.”

In addition to the book, readers can download free coloring pages from Don’s website.

The Avid Reader Launch:

On January, 13th, Don celebrated the book with young readers—along with an audience of enthusiastic Prince fans—at Book People in Austin. It was Prince music, reading, and a lot of, um, dancing by Don.

Book People Launch:

In the news:

The Avid Reader Launch on TikTok.

Nikki and Don in conversation with Tom Nixon on “The Book Flood” Podcast.

Don Tate in conversation with John Masiulionis from the “PR From The Heart” podcast.

Publishers Weekly In Brief

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 more than two years since I’ve seen many of my Texas librarian friends, and so I’m looking forward to catching up next week in Forth Worth! For that reason—because I don’t want to miss any of you—here is an early look at my 2022 schedule:

Mon. Apr 25, 2022

12:00pm – 1:50 pm – Bluebonnet Speed Dating with Little Brown Books for Young Readers authors Aaron Reynolds, Dusti Bowling, Don Tate.
Location: Omni Hotel, Ballroom 4 & 5.

2:00pm – 3:00pm – Book Signing with Speed Dating participants. SWISH! THE SLAM-DUNKING, ALLEY-OOPING, HIGH-FLYING HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS. Ballroom 4 & 5.

5:00pm – 6:00pm – Book signing – Little Brown Books for Young Readers/Abrams. ​​Aisle Number 8. PIGSKINS TO PAINTBRUSHES: THE STORY OF FOOTBALL-PLAYING ARTIST ERNIE BARNES and SWISH! THE SLAM-DUNKING, ALLEY-OOPING, HIGH-FLYING HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS. Aisle #8.

Tues. Apr 26

1:30pm – 2:30pm – Texas Authors and Illustrators Speed Dating (Round Table Committee sponsored) Check flyer at check-in for room #.

4:00 – 4:30pm – Live taping with the Van Show, Booth #2339

Wed. Apr 27

11:45am to 1:45pm – Bluebonnet Luncheon

1:30pm – 2:30pm – Panel “What’s New With Texas Picture Book and Early Chapter Book Authors and Illustrators” (Round Table Committee Sponsored). Participating authors: Lindsay Leslie, Christina Soontornvat, Emma Virjan, Kari LaVelle. Moderated by Vanessa Roeder and Susie Kravolansky. Check flyer at check-in for room #.

And don’t forget, you can still purchase raffle tickets to support the TLA disaster relief fund. I donated one print from Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters by Suzanne Slade. Purchase one raffle ticket for $5 or five tickets for $25.  Tickets will be sold on-site at TLA 2022 in Fort Worth, and the winning ticket will be drawn at General Session III on Thursday, April 28 at 11am. Winner does not have to be present to win.

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 week. But now, it’s off to the printer—whew!

Of all the picture book biographies I’ve written and/or illustrated, “Pigskins to Paintbrushes” is probably the one closest to my heart. As a teenager, I was a big fan of artist Ernie Barnes. His artwork was displayed behind the credits of my favorite TV show GOOD TIMES. 

One of the main characters was teenager J. J. Evans. He was an artist who busied himself painting pictures no matter what chaos was happening in the family at the time. The paintings were of Black people with graceful, elongated bodies. Honestly, I really thought J.J. painted those images. Years later, I learned the real artist was former football player Ernie Barnes.

During high school art classes, like most young artists do, I emulated Barnes work—long, graceful limbs, bold colors. Little did I know, I was emulating Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix, and Michelangelo, too, as they were artists who inspired Barnes’s art.

Ernie Barnes’s childhood experience was similar to my own. I was not good at sports, and I often felt ashamed about it. Boys, especially in the Black community where I grew up, were expected to excel at baseball, basketball, football. But I was always the last choice when teams picked players. I could not dribble a basketball. I could not catch a baseball. While playing right field in Little League baseball, I prayed the ball would not come my way. I certainly wasn’t going to catch the thing— and if I did, people would have expected me to throw it somewhere. And football? Just freaking no.

“Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes” is the story of a young man’s journey to defining himself and being the best man that he can be—an artist and a football player.

I can’t wait to share this book with you!

Don

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 students, elementary school students, teachers and librarians, over the course of four days. It was a blast! My visit was sponsored by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

“Telling A People’s Story” looks at African-American cultural and historical identity through the lens of children’s illustrated literature, and features more than 100 original artworks from African-American children’s illustrated literature. Here’s a quick recap of my time in Oxford, Ohio!

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 you that running it is a lot of work. Conducting the interviews, collecting visuals, formatting text presenting at conferences—not to mention that wonderful Declaration in Support of Children that hundreds of children’s authors and illustrators signed on to in support. A lot happens behind the scenes thanks to seven wonderful women who work tirelessly to keep the blog running. Not to discredit myself or the other guys on the Brown Bookshelf team, it’s a group effort. But let’s be for real, the success of that blog is because of the woman power behind behind it.

Thank you Paula Chase Hyman, Kelly Starling Lyons, Tameka Fryer Brown, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Gwendolyn Hooks, Crystal Allen, Tracey Baptiste, for keeping the Brown Bookshelf alive. It’s important work you do. And even though you all maintain busy author/writing schedules—not to mention maintaining families and other obligations—you still find time to support other authors and illustrators. You are appreciated.

In today’s highlight, a few of our team members talk about their upcoming books, and they offer advice for aspiring female book creators. Here goes!

Kelly Starling Lyons

Paula Chase Hyman

Tameka Fryer Brown

Olugbemisola’s advice to aspiring female writers:

For me, writing is most about listening. To the world, to my heart, to the questions that sometimes I don’t know I have until I start writing. Ask questions, take risks. Write without wondering if it’s “good.” Write because you have something to say. Write to figure out what that something is. Keep learning. Keep reading the world–in many different ways. Use what you learn to become the most you, not to imitate anyone else. Seek out supportive writing communities–maybe more than one where each serves a different purpose. One just to talk books and story, one focused on writing and critique, etc.  Make books and other media your mentors — jot down excerpts, outline or storyboard your favourites, examine what works, what you love, and why.  Mentor/offer support to someone else in the community, wherever you are in your writing/publishing journey. Practice, practice, practice. If you want to write, choose to make time for it, and know that it may mean giving up something else. Develop discipline in your “creative habit” in a way that can work in *your* life — for some, it’s ‘write every day’, for others it’s a certain word count in a week, or that 15 minutes whenever you’re on the bus, waiting in the car. And for many of us–like me–the ‘plan’ will need to be adjusted periodically. All of that is OK. Treat yourself and your story with love and grace and respect.

Go to the library, even if just to watch and listen to the other people there, to be around the books. Read a book like The Word, edited by Marita Golden, or Create Dangerously by Edwidge Danticat.  If you don’t have access to conferences like the Kweli conference in NYC, try to attend local author talks and bookstore visits–those can often be like mini writing workshops. Follow writers and editors on Twitter that produce work you admire.  Read through the 28 Days Later archives on the Brown Bookshelf — many of the creators profiled offer excellent tips, resources, and advice.

Know that your story is precious. Others’ limited imaginations and tightheartedness are neither your fault nor your problem to solve. Black lives are treasures. Listen to stories of the world, and to your own. Let your light shine without dimming another’s.

As you pull up to the table, bring an extra chair and another sister–there’s room at the table for us all. ​

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All of our stories, across the Diaspora, all of the stories we live and the ones we imagine, have infinite value. 

​Your voice, your story, your own beautiful self matters.

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 Perlot, served as our resident strongman, performing human kettlebell and barbell. We followed up with physical fitness games for the kids. “The Sandow” cake was created by illustrator and cake maker (cakelustrator) Akiko White. See the cake in the making here!

It was a fun day! Here’s a look:

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.

In addition, Whoosh! is also a finalists for the 10th Annual Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards, 2017! Children across the country will vote for the finalists through the last day of Children’s Book Week.