Thank you Don for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy to talk about your upcoming book with Suzanne Slade.
Well, here it is, Alyson—ta-da! I’m excited to share the cover of an upcoming picture book that I had the honor of illustrating: Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), written by prolific author Suzanne Slade. The book will publish later this year in November 2020.
Swish! is the story of the Harlem Globetrotters, which formed in the late 1920s. The original team was called the New York Harlem Globetrotters. But guess what? They weren’t from New York—they were from Chicago! Some of the original ballplayers came right out of high school, such as Toots Wright, Kid Oliver, Fat Long, Runt Pullins, and Andy Washington, and they barnstormed their way across the Midwest, going up against anybody who’d have them. They played some of the most high-flying, groundbreaking basketball of their time and won the hearts of Americans wherever they went . . . at least while they were on the court. Off court, because of the color of their skin, they often weren’t allowed to stay in hotels. Many a night, the team slept in an old Model T car. Swish! is a story of resilience in the face of remarkable adversity.
The cover design was a true collaboration between super talented designer Saho Fujii and myself. Initially, I created a few very sloppy thumbnail sketches, as well as a single color image. Saho then pulled a few of the book’s interior sketches and proposed these other designs.
I loved both her designs, but we all felt the version with the Globetrotter spinning a basketball on one finger best captured the spirit of the book as a whole. I tweaked and added a bit of pizzazz to the font, and we were off! And the conk! I love the conk! (You can Google that.)
After illustrating the book, I jumped right back into the cover art, proposing these four color versions.
Thankfully, Saho, editor Deirdre Jones, and the whole jacket team at Little, Brown loved all four covers! (That never happens!) In the end, we decided on the yellow version. To illustrate the book, I used a program called Clip Studio Paint. It’s a Photoshop-like program with brushes I love.
I began my career working as a book designer at an educational publisher, so I can’t help but have my fingers all up in the cover design process. Creating a successful book cover is truly a collaborative effort. I’m more than pleased with the results, and I think my young readers will be too.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I don’t mention that I am the only children’s book illustrator who can now say that I have a Swish! and a Whoosh! in my body of work.
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And now for the cover reveal:
Look for Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters coming in November 2020.
About the Author: Suzanne Slade is the award-winning author of over 100 children's books. Hailing from Chicago, Suzanne has written several titles about inspiring ground-breakers from her hometown: SWISH! THE SLAM-DUNKING, ALLEY-OOPING, HIGH-FLYING HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, EXQUISITE: THE POETRY AND LIFE OF GWENDOLYN BROOKS (April 7, 2020), and DANGEROUS JANE (about Jane Addams.) As mechanical engineer by degree, she also writes engaging science titles such as her recent 2020 NSTA Best STEM Book, A COMPUTER CALLED KATHERINE: HOW KATHERINE JOHNSON HELPED PUT AMERICA ON THE MOON.
About the Illustrator: Don Tate is an award-winning illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, including CARTER READS THE NEWSPAPER (Peachtree, 2019); NO SMALL POTATOES (2018); WHOOSH! LONNIE JOHNSON'S SUPER-SOAKING STREAM OF INVENTIONS (Charlesbridge, 2016); many others.
He is also the author of POET: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF GEORGE MOSES HORTON (Peachtree,2015); IT JES' HAPPENED: WHEN BILL TRAYLOR STARTED TO DRAW (Lee & Low Books, 2102), both books are Ezra Jack Keats award winners, and most recently, and the forthcoming WILLIAM STILL AND HIS FREEDOM STORIES: FATHER OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (Peachtree, 2020).
Don is a founding host of the The Brown Bookshelf –a blog dedicated to books for African American young readers; and a 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.
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