By Ryan O’Rourke
Award-winning children’s book illustrator Shadra Strickland spoke at Towson University Tuesday about what it is like to be an African American children’s book illustrator in a world that has sometimes neglected diversity.
Strickland said that African American protagonists in children’s stories are rare, adding that it is even more unusual for the illustrator to be African American. One result of this lack of diversity among writers and illustrators, she said, is that many stories being written about multicultural characters focus on an historical achievement or the culture itself rather than just telling a children’s story.
“Stories about segregation and civil rights are not the stories that interest me,” Strickland said during the speech at Cook Library. “I want children of color to embrace new roles. I want to tell encouraging and unique stories that aren’t just being retold and recycled.”
Before getting her big break, Strickland was constantly frustrated by the lack of opportunity in her career and wondered if it was because she was black. No matter how hard she worked she said she never felt like she was making any real progress.
Strickland became noticed after illustrating the successfulchildren’s story “Bird,” which focused on a young African American boy who coped with his brother’s drug addiction and eventual death by drawing.
“Bird” earned Strickland recognition, and she even won a Coretta Scott King Book Award under the John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009. She was the first African American woman to do so.
The success of “Bird” even got her recognized by Toni Morrison.
“I was so excited,” Strickland said. “I was so excited that Mrs. Morrison personally requested me to illustrate her book. She saw my work in ‘Bird’ and she actually contacted me. I was also excited to finally make a coming of age story about a young African American girl.”
Strickland said she thought she would finally have the opportunity to illustrate the coming of age tale of a young African American girl. But Strickland said she realized it was time for her to start telling her own stories whenMorrison decided to break from her tradition of writing about African Americans and asked Stickland to illustrate a character of “ambiguous race.”
“When you are an artist working with a writer you have to remember it is collaboration,” Strickland said. “I was tired of being told what to make and how. So now I am currently working on my own children’s story. This time I can finally make the coming of age story for an African American girl that I have been wanting to do for so long. That will be the Shadra show.”
Strickland’s new book is called “Sunday Shopping” and will come out in May. It is a story about a young girl and her relationship with her grandmother. It has already been selected to the Junior Library Guild. Strickland hopes that this will be the first of many books that she will make that can positively influence children of diverse backgrounds.
“Children are so easily influenced by everything in our culture,” Strickland said. “If children are only seeing one version of themselves reflected in the world today then they build obstacles that get in their own way. Children are told all of the time that this world is not for them. It is up to us writers and illustrators to bring them hope. Every child needs that regardless of their race.”
The attendees were extremely engaged throughout the speech and Strickland was very well received.
“I really liked that she addressed the issue of diversity in children’s books,” said Joyce Garczynski, the research librarian and event coordinator. “It was good to have someone shine a light on one of the biggest issues in our world and profession. We love to get speakers that are encouraging and inspiring for our students. Shadra is someone that is easy for students to look up to and admire.”