Biographical note

Derrick Barnes is from Kansas City, MO. He is a graduate of Jackson State University with a BA degree in Marketing. He is the author of the critically acclaimed picture book CROWN: An Ode To The Fresh Cut which won a multitude of literay awards including a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Honor, and the 2018 Ezra Jack Keats Award, making it one of the most decorated picture books in the history of children's literature. He also wrote the bestselling chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys. Derrick owns the copy-writing company Say Word Creative Communications and created the popular blog Raising the Mighty, where he "chronicles the experience of bringing up four beautiful Black boys in America." He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and their four sons. Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter who studied fashion illustration at FIT and children's book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is the author and illustrator of Let Freedom Sing and Don't Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table and has illustrated numerous children's books. Vanessa lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, and a very rambunctious cat named Stripes.