Here Wee Read

JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD is an author, educator, literary advocate, and mother who is committed to nurturing the next generation of readers by writing stories with more diversity and representation.

Among her books releasing this year is a collaboration with Grammy-winning pop star Ciara and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson titled Why Not You? a picture book to inspire young readers to see the value in themselves, be brave, and go after their biggest dreams!

JaNay’s first children’s book Imani’s Moon won the NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award and was featured on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show and Storytime with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, her second book Grandma’s Tiny House: A Counting Story! received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and won the CELI Read Aloud Book Award.

Every book JaNay writes is a celebration of self-esteem, perseverance, diversity, inclusivity, and learning. She aims to change the lives of her young readers by using her books as a powerful form of representation.  JaNay loves to write, bake, teach, and spend time with her husband and her daughter, Vivian. She has a whopping ten children’s books publishing in 2022!

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase Miguel’s Community Garden here.

Purchase Why Not You? here.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

This episode is a recording from a live author panel event that took place on February 28, 2022 as part of Black Children’s Book Week, a week-long literary event celebrating Black children in literature.

This was an intimate couch conversation with author-illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Denene Millner, Schele Williams, and Ty Allan Jackson. Moderated by Charnaie Gordon from Here Wee Read.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

Frank Morrison started his journey as a graffiti artist in New Jersey, tagging walls with spray paint.  Frank's work can be found in numerous award-winning children’s books including Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award winner Jazzy Miz Mozetta, NAACP Image Award winner Our Children Can Soar and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, Little Melba and her Big Trombone. His literary client list includes international book publishers Penguin Books, HarperCollins, Hyperion, Random House and National Geographic Kids.

Connie Schofield-Morrison is a mother, author, and entrepreneur. She and her high school sweetheart Frank D. Morrison run an art gallery called Morrison Graphics in Atlanta, GA that Connie manages while also taking care of her children and writing books in her spare time. Some of her children’s books include: Stitch by Stitch, I Got the Rhythm, I Got the School Spirit, and I Got the Christmas Spirit.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

In response to all of the troubling current events happening around the world, I’m sharing a few children’s book recommendations.

You can join the conversation by sending me an email message to: [email protected].  I’d love to know what books you’re reading in your schools or at home with your children or grandchildren.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase Girl Dad here

Purchase What Do You Do With a Problem here

Purchase A Place Inside of Me here

Purchase Most Days here

Read more about Black Children’s Book Week here

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

Tiffany D. Jackson is the NYT Bestselling, award winning author of YA novels Monday’s Not Coming, Allegedly, Let Me Hear A Rhyme, Grown, White Smoke, Santa in The City and co-author of Blackout. A Coretta Scott King — John Steptoe New Talent Award-winner and the NAACP Image Award-nominee, she received her Bachelor of Arts in film from Howard University, and has over a decade in TV/Film experience. The Brooklyn native is currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tiffany has over a decade of experience in the television industry, working for various networks and media companies including National Geographic (focused on documentaries such as Lockdown, a prison subculture series) Roc Nation, BET, FUSE, BBC AMERICA, and EPIX.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase Santa in the City here.

A Kids Company Subscription Box Deal: https://akidsco.com/discount/DIVERSITY

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

Cedella Marley is a Grammy-winning singer, designer, entrepreneur, and the first-born daughter of reggae singers Bob and Rita Marley. She is the CEO of Bob Marley's recording label, Tuff Gong International, and the author of multiple children's books including One Love. A life-long advocate of philanthropy, Cedella is the director of the Bob Marley Foundation and is a Global Ambassador to the Jamaica Women's Football Program.

Cedella Marley is a living embodiment of the way the ethics and values instilled during her upbringing carry forward the belief that, with passion and purpose, we can all make a difference in our communities, our country, and ultimately the world. She lives in Miami with her husband and three children.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase Marley and the Family Band here.
Purchase Bob Marley: Portrait of the Legend here.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

Karyn Parsons is best known for her role as Will Smith’s spoiled and quippy cousin Hilary Banks on NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

After Fresh Prince, Karyn went on to found Sweet Blackberry, an award-winning series of children’s animated films and books sharing stories of unsung black heroes in history, featuring narration from stars such as Alfre Woodard, Queen Latifah, Chris Rock, and Laurence Fishburne. The films have screened on HBO and Netflix and are enjoyed by schools and libraries across the country. Karyn’s debut novel, How High The Moon, hit bookshelves in March 2019. Karyn has also authored the picture books Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight for Sweet Blackberry (Dec 2020) and Sweet Blackberry’s Saving The Day that tells the story of how Garrett Morgan invented the traffic signal.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase Saving the Day here.
Purchase Flying Free here.
Purchase Will Smith’s biography here.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

In response to a recent post on my Instagram account, I’m talking about ggoing beyond teaching children about slavery, racism, oppression, and struggle during Black History Month or anytime of the year.

You can join the conversation by either leaving a comment on my Instagram post, or sending me an email message to: [email protected].  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and how you’re handling it in your schools or at home with your children or grandchildren.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Purchase A Friend Like You here.
Purchase Who Are Your People? here.

Instagram Reels video mentioned in this episode:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZLGq2TAC8J/

Black History Month Children’s Book Recommendations:

https://hereweeread.com/2017/02/black-history-month-books-3-4-5-year-olds.html

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

MARIE FORLEO is an entrepreneur, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and host of the award-winning show MarieTV and The Marie Forleo Podcast, with millions of fans worldwide. One of the leading voices in personal development, she’s been featured everywhere from The Today Show to Harper’s Bazaar to Inc Magazine among others. Marie runs the acclaimed training programs, B-School, The Copy Cure, and Time Genius, and was named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation. Find out more at MarieForleo.com.

Purchase Marie’s book Everything is Figureoutable here.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!

Just Us Books, Inc. was founded in 1988 by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson.

Wade serves as president and CEO of the company. His career as a writer spans more than three decades and has resulted in more than 25 published books for children and young adults.

Wade serves on several community boards and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Pen America. He speaks around the country about issues of inclusion, empowering Black boys to succeed through literacy and other topics. He has received numerous honors for his contributions to children's literature, including the Stephen Crane Literary Award, induction into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, the Harlem Book Fair Phyllis Wheatley Award (2007), the Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award (2008) presented by the Center for Black Literature and the Madame C. J. Walker Legacy Award (2012) given by the Zora Neale Hurston-Richard Wright Foundation.  Follow him on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/wade.hudson2.

Cheryl is publisher and editorial director of Just Us Books. She has authored nearly 30 books for children including AFRO-BETS ABC Book, Good Morning, Baby, Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, Hands Can, What Do You Know, Snow!, and her most recent, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance.

A member of PEN America and the Pen America’s Children’s/Young Adult Book Authors Committee Children, Society of Children's Book Illustrators and Authors, Cheryl speaks on the topic of diversity in literature and serves as a parenting expert for ClubMom. Her honors include induction into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, the Harlem Book Fair Phyllis Wheatley Award (2007), the Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award (2008) presented by the Center for Black Literature and the Madame C. J. Walker Legacy Award (2012) given by the Zora Neale Hurston-Richard Wright Foundation. Follow her on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/diversitymom_ch.

Visit the Just Us Books website: https://justusbooks.com/.

Connect with Charnaie online in the following places:

Blog: http://hereweeread.com
Personal Website: charnaiegordon.com
Podcast Email Address: [email protected]

Find Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username @hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Feel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spread the word to others. Thanks for listening!