Listen to our first ever LIVE episode of the Black Creators Series podcast. You can listen straight from our ALA Annual panel, featuring four legendary children's book creators in discussion with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, best-selling author, founder of Red Clay Educators, and cofounder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy.

Briana Mukodiri Uchendu, the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award–winning illustrator of We Could Fly, written by Rhiannon Giddens.

Carole Boston Weatherford, recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King Author Honors, including most recently for her beautiful picture book How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee, illustrated by Frank Morrison.

Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome, the talented and award-winning team behind the upcoming picture book They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom. Lesa Cline-Ransome is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor while James E. Ransome is the 2023 winner of the Children's Literature Legacy Award.

Early childhood educator Jamel C. Campbell addresses a common fear that children all over the world experience at the start of a new school year in his debut picture book, Olu's Teacher. This sweet, reassuring story is paired with the gentle, welcoming illustrations of Lydia Mba. Listen in as he talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about his work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Arlène Elizabeth Casimir is an educator, consultant, healer, herbalist, and writer. Her debut picture book, Back Home: Story Time with My Father, illustrated in lush, enchanting colors by artist Ken Daley, is a love letter to her parents' birthplace and to the ways storytelling can bring us together. Listen in as she talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Ten-Word Tiny Tales is UK Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho's magnificent compendium of twenty stories, each illustrated by a different artist and each just ten words long—as much a work of art as an invitation to budding writers. His young adult novel in verse, The Boy Lost in the Maze, is a spellbinding blending of the ancient myth of Theseus and the Minotaur with the quest of a modern-day teen in search of his father. Listen in as he talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about his work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Shade Lapite is British-Nigerian and has drawn on her heritage to create the world of her debut middle-grade novel, Goddess Crown, the first in a thrilling Afro-fantasy series set in the lush, opulent kingdom of Galla. Listen in as she talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Carole Boston Weatherford is a New York Times best-selling author and poet of award-winning books for children. Her picture book How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee, illustrated by the talented Frank Morrison, is the story of young spelling champion MacNolia Cox's groundbreaking achievement in the face of discrimination. Listen in as she talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Born in Britain and raised on the tiny island of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Monique James-Duncan is passionate about writing literature with mirrors so all children can feel seen. Her publishing debut, Mommy Time, illustrated by Ebony Glenn, is an ode to mothers—particularly the largely unseen African American stay-at-home mother. Listen in as she talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Through writing, organizing, and facilitating, author Phoebe Sinclair strives to create space and opportunities for people to listen deeply, speak from the heart, and feel heard. Featuring zines crafted by award-winning illustrator Theodore Taylor III, her debut novel, Confessions of a Candy Snatcher, relates an emotive, reflective story about the wonder—and mess—of growing up. Listen in as she talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Christine Platt is an author and advocate who believes storytelling is a tool for social change. Her engaging first chapter-book series, Frankie and Friends, is a refreshing portrayal of Black women in journalism in which her young protagonist, Frankie, explores big ideas such as racial injustice and activism with her supportive family. Listen in as Christine talks with Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, about her work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.

Filmmaker and award-winning author, David Barclay Moore infuses history with wry folk wisdom, metaphorical power, and a splash of magic in his bold and original tale Carrimebac. The Civil War may be over, but times are not substantially improved for the freed Black citizens of Walkerton, Georgia. With exquisite cinematic illustrations by John Holyfield, Carrimebac is a portrait of Black endurance that draws on the rhythms and traditions of African American storytelling to open a powerful window into the past. Listen in as David Barclay Moore and Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, New York Times best-selling author and founder of Red Clay Educators, talk about his work and the profound and inspiring ways it can be used in classrooms.