#TXBookChat

How to Draw from History: Developing Characters Today with author and illustrator Don Tate
Don Tate is an award-winning illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, including Carter Reads The Newspaper (Peachtree Publishing, 2019), No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and his Kingdom in Kansas (Knopf, 2018), Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, 2016) The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (Eerdmans, 2015); and many others.
He is also the author of Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Peachtree,2015) and It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started To Draw (Lee & Low Books, 2102)--both books are Ezra Jack Keats award winners; and most recently, Strong As Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became The Strongest Man on Earth (Charlesbridge, 2017).
New titles include Par-Tay! Dance of the Veggies (and their friends), written by Eloise Greenfield (Alazar, 2018), and Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, written by Michael Mahin (Clarion, 2018).
Forthcoming titles include William Still and his Freedom Stories: Father of the Underground Railroad (Peachtree Publishing Company, Nov. 2020), and Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, written by Suzanne Slade (Little Brown, Nov. 2020).
Don is a founding host of The Brown Bookshelf, a blog dedicated to books for African American young readers; and a one-time member of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature.
He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family. Visit dontate.com to learn more about his work.
The #TXBookChat series offers brief discussions and programs with authors, librarians, and literary professionals. These informal “coffee chats” last about 30 minutes and offer a quick look into different aspects of the state’s literary world. The #TXBookChat series seeks to bring together diverse voices and perspectives.
For a full schedule of the #TXBookChat series, please visit: www.tsl.texas.gov/txbookchat
Based in Austin, TX, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission strives to preserve yesterday, inform today, and inspire tomorrow. Visit us online: www.tsl.texas.gov