The Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC
A learning and sharing community for
DC-area children’s literature professionals since 1945
SPEAKER SERIES
Angela Joy
and
Janelle Washington
February 16, 2023
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Program
Our February Children’s Book Guild Speaker Series Program will feature Angela Joy and Janelle Washington in conversation with Guild member Deborah Taylor. Angela and Janelle are the author and illustrator of Choosing Brave, the 2023 winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature in the Younger Readers Category. Their book is also a Jane Addams Book Award Winner, and an Orbits Picture Honor Book.
Angela Joy is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Before graduating from the University of Minnesota, Angela attended NYU and Spelman College. Angela then traveled as a background vocalist, also working in television and movie soundtracks. She lives in southern California with her family. Her picture books include Choosing Brave and Black Is a Rainbow Color.
Janelle Washington is a self-taught paper cut artist from Virginia. She has permanent silhouettes housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, DC, and Downing-Gross Community Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia. She is also a member of The Guild of American Papercutters. Choosing Brave is her first picture book.
Please join us as we discuss Angela and Janelle’s award winning book that Publisher’s Weekly describes as “an extraordinary volume, Joy’s cadenced prose and Washington’s dimensional cut-paper artwork portray Mamie Till-Mobley’s (1921–2003) life." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
2023 Nonfiction Award
The Guild is proud to announce Don Brown as the winner of our 2023 Nonfiction Award
The Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award honors an author or author-illustrator whose total work of nonfiction subject matter has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children.
In his long and wide-ranging career, Don Brown has written and illustrated books about pioneers, explorers, and historical events, making them immediate and memorable to young readers. In many of his books, he has delved into difficult episodes of American history, such as the Dust Bowl, Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has created distinctive, affecting images of damage and destruction, but he balances them with clear explanations of the world and of the people who made positive, often heroic, contributions under great stress.
He is respectful of his audience and his subject matter and produces engaging, well-researched illustrated nonfiction for children of all ages.
We are so pleased to honor his lifetime contribution to children's nonfiction!
2022 Children’s Book Guild
Youth Literacy Awards
For the last eight years, the Children’s Book Guild has awarded grants to schools to purchase books for their libraries, media centers, or classrooms.
In 2022, we chose four schools: Simon Elementary and Truesdell Elementary in Washington, D.C., Springhill Lake Elementary in Greenbelt, and St. Francis International School in Silver Spring. Learn more…
Eboni Henry (Truesdell Elementary, D.C.), Carolyn Johnson (St. Francis International School, Silver Spring), Nikita Campbell (Simon Elementary, D.C.)
Youth Literacy Award chair Kem Sawyer with books for Afghan refugee children
Highlights
Recent Books by Children’s Book Guild Authors and Illustrators
FIND US ON SOCIAL
The Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC, is committed to the fight for racial justice and support for Black lives. Please click on the links above for information on organizations to support, and readings to help educate and inspire positive change.