Andrea Davis Pinkney

Andrea Davis Pinkney is a children's author and Coretta Scott King Award winner who writes about African-American culture. She is the author of more than 20 books and founder of the "first African American children's book imprint at a major publishing company": Jump at the Sun at Hyperion Books for Children, the Disney Book Group (now Disney Publishing Worldwide). She is also vice president and editor-at-large for Scholastic Trade Books.

Biography

Andrea Davis was born September 25, 1963 in Washington D.C. and was raised in Connecticut. Her parents were involved in the civil rights movement and exposed Andrea to the cause from early on, even taking her to the annual conference of the National Urban League during many of her summer vacations.

Pinkney graduated from Syracuse University in 1985 with a degree in journalism and began working as an editor at Mechanix Illustrated. She then went on to work as a senior editor at Essence, as well as an editor for the book publishers Simon & Schuster and Scholastic ^[1]

While working at one of these early editing jobs, Andrea met Brian Pinkney, a Caldecott Honor-winning children’s book illustrator, whom she later married. The two have collaborated on a number of books including Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, Duke Ellington, Seven Candles for Kwanzaa, and Dear Benjamin Banneker ^[1]

She was chosen to deliver the 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Children's Literature Research Collections, Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (CDT). She was cited in January 2013 for "significant contributions to literature for young people provided through a body of work that brings a deeper understanding of African American heritage".

She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.^[2]

Selected bibliography

^[3]

• Rhythm Ride (2015)

• Bird in a Box (2011)

• Sit-in: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down (2010)

• Boycott Blues (2008)

• Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa (2002)

• Mim's Christmas Jam (2001)

• Dear Mr. President: Abraham Lincoln: Letters from a Slave Girl (2001)

• Let it Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters (2000) – Winner of Coretta Scott King author award

• Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story (1999)

• Raven in a Dove House (1998)

• Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and his Orchestra (1998)

• Watch Me Dance (1997)

• Shake Shake Shake (1997)

• Solo Girl (1997)

• Pretty Brown Face (1997)

• I Smell Honey (1997)

• Bill Pickett, Rodeo Ridin' Cowboy (1996)

• Hold Fast to Dreams (1995)

• Dear Benjamin Banneker (1994)

• Alvin Ailey (1993) with Tylania Moore

Honors/ Awards

Best Arts Feature award Highlights for Children Foundation, 1992

Parenting Publication award, 1993

Pick of the List designation-American Booksellers, 1993, for Seven Candles for Kwanzaa

Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

National Council for the Social Studies/Children's Book Council, 1994, for Dear Benjamin Banneker

Notable Book citations, Society of School Librarians International, and American Library Association Notable Book, both 1996, both for Bill Pickett: Rodeo Ridin' Cowboy;

Coretta Scott King award, 2013.^[4]

References

Additional Reference

https://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Andrea+Davis+Pinkney&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&hl=en Page provides information on individual books

External links

Official website