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Junior Library Guild! Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara was just named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. I'm looking forward to sharing it with readers and educators everywhere! |
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New Book! I am thrilled to announce my next book! Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara is a picture book about one boy on a journey to deliver salt across the desert-a journey that will reveal the precious rock's true value... This book will be published January 21, 2025 by Bloomsbury Children's Books! It's available for pre-order on Amazon, Bloomsbury, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you buy books! |
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Virtual Visits... The hero of I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon, Farmer Tantoh Nforbah, is conducting virtual visits! You can contact him at fatantoh@gmail.com to set up your classroom or library's virtual interview session! You can also learn about his current environmental work in Cameroon at https://www.syfaglobal.org/. |
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Mural... I was honored to bring to life the portraits of Catherine and Adam Blake Jr., fixtures in the 19th century development of downtown Albany, NY., through a colorful mural! A collaboration between the Albany Center Gallery and The Blake Annex, my mural, "Meet the Blakes: Icons of Industry" celebrates this African-American couple who thrived as entrepreneurs in a time and place where they were not always welcome or supported. The mural adorns the walls of The Blake Annex, the United Way of the Greater Capital Region's new co-working space in the old Steuben Club building. You can request a tour and check it out! |
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Podcast Guest... Follow along with the Artful Albany guided walking tour podcast, exploring the painted murals in the Capital Walls Public Art Project! In each episode, participating mural artists share their inspiration and process in making their murals come to life. Listen to Episode 1: Bluebirds & Geraldine's Reverie for a behind the scenes look at my very first large-scale mural! |
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Studio TV Visit... I was recently honored to share a bit of my artistic process and childhood memories with the folks at AHA! A House for Arts, on my local public television station, WMHT-tv. You can watch my segment, as well as past episodes, here! Hope you enjoy! |
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StoryWalk... Bedtime for Sweet Creatures is the newest addition to Albany, NY's StoryWalk program! Albany Public Library and the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District have disassembled and posted book pages around downtown Albany at 17 participating locations, so you can read the book as you take a short walk! View the Bedtime for Sweet Creatures Downtown StoryWalk® Project tour locations on Google maps here. Check out the neighborhood maps for all of Albany's StoryWalks here. |
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Mural... I recently painted a mural at Lincoln Elementary Community School in Schenectady, NY... 'Flourishing Garden' is inspired by the tenets that the school community lives by, and features the words "We love, we dream, we grow, we serve, we flourish" and bright, diverse flowers thriving together under blue skies and bountiful sunshine... |
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Podcast Guest... I was recently honored to be a guest on the wonderful The Children's Book Podcast with Matthew Winner. We talked about books, faces, and more... Hope you can check it out! |
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Podcast Guest... I recently had a lovely chat about writing, illustrating and baking for Grandpa Cacao: a Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family on The Storied Recipe Podcast with Becky Hadeed. We chatted about family, food and memories... Hope you can check it out! (photo by The Storied Recipe Podcast) |
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Sculpture... I recently participated in Downtown is Pawsome, Downtown Albany Business Improvement District's public art exhibition of ten painted Nipper dog statues! Mine is called 'Bloomie', and he's painted with flowers inspired by the melting pot of cultures that make up our Capital Region. 'Bloomie' is currently on display indoors until Spring at the Albany Firefighters Museum in Albany, NY. Here's a little montage of the painting process, step by step... |
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Mural... I was honored to participate in Albany, New York's Capital Walls project, a partnership between the Albany Center Gallery, the Albany Parking Authority, and the Albany BARN. Capital Walls seeks to promote art and artists by funding public art in urban spaces. My mural, 'Geraldine's Reverie' explores what it means to me to be an artist – that is, the freedom of expression that we all have as children as we play, sing, dance, create stories and explore the world with no preconceived notions and no fear of judgement. Check it out if you're on Broadway in Albany! See photos of the mural in progress here! |
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Book Extras... Want to learn more about the book One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia? Check out oneplasticbag.com for teacher resources, links and more. You can even buy the recycled plastic purses from the book! |
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Book Awards Join me and author Alison Goldberg as we celebrate BOTTLE TOPS: The Art of El Anatsui at the Children's Africana Book Awards Ceremony and Festival. There will be book signings, Q&A sessions and book themed art activities featuring CABA 2023 Honor and Award book authors and illustrators! Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 11am-3pm at the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library, Howard University, Washington, DC. This is a free family-friendly event. Please RSVP here. |
