Renee Watson’s ‘Blackbird’ Celebrates Harlem Renaissance
The best non-fiction books for children bring facts and historical events to life in colorful and memorable ways. They make understanding our past more accessible and interesting, and Renée Watson’s picture book Harlem’s Little Blackbird (Random House, 2012) is a perfect example. An author of picture books, middle-grade, as well as poetry and performance, Renée is also a teacher. And it shows in her beautiful telling of the story of Florence Mills, a lesser-known figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Earning a starred review in Booklist, Harlem’s Little Blackbird is lushly illustrated in a mixed-media, folk-art style by Christian Robinson.
Florence Mills could sing as sweetly as the birds, and she performed across the United States and London, even wowing the Prince of Wales. But she was painfully aware of the racism of the times and that her friends and family were kept out of the theaters where she performed. She became an activist against discrimination, refusing to perform unless the white-owned theaters allowed her loved ones to be part of the audience. She even turned down an opportunity to join the Ziegfeld Follies, opting instead to work a show that promoted young black talent.
Question: Florence Mills is a lesser-known artist of the Harlem Renaissance. How did you come to learn her story, and what inspired you to share it with a young audience?
Renée Watson: After finishing my first picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, 2010), my editor and I discussed what I wanted to write next. I told her I wanted to tell a story about an African American woman who did extraordinary things, that young people might not know about. We learn about the brave and legendary women Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman often. I wanted to add an unsung hero to the list. My editor recommended I research Florence Mills. I had never heard of her but as soon as I started learning her story, I knew I wanted to tell it.
Q: One of the challenges of writing a picture book is distilling your story to its most important elements. Was it hard to choose what details of her life to include and what to leave out?
RW: Yes, it was definitely a challenge to figure out what to put in and what to leave out. A question I asked myself with every scene of the book was, “Why is this important to tell a child?” or “Why does this matter?” My hope was that young people—regardless of if they wanted to be a singer—would see that you’re never too young to use your voice for something good and that regardless of where you come from, you can achieve great things.
Q: Because no recordings or films of Florence Mills’ performances exist, it must have made researching her life a challenge. How did you go about getting the information you needed to tell her story?
RW: I did most of my research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, which is located in Harlem. The Schomburg Center has a research collection on Florence that has news clippings from the ’20s, playbills from her shows, letters she wrote—all kinds of personal artifacts. I was able to read firsthand accounts and see photos of her. The book wouldn’t have been possible without the resources at the Schomburg. I also read Bill Egan’s book, Harlem Jazz Queen. Bill’s extensive research on Florence was also a great resource for me.
Q: You are the author of other picture books, a middle-grade novel, you write poetry, perform onstage–what do you hope to achieve in your art? What message do you hope your readers take away from your writing?
RW: I don’t think there’s one specific thing I hope readers take away from my work. In general, I hope I am bringing characters and situations to young people that they can relate to. My writing mixes the bitter and the sweet. It puts deep sorrow and profound joy right next to each other because often times, that’s how it is in life. We are experiencing many emotions at once, having good days and bad days in one week. I hope that young people walk away from my books accepting that and feeling like they can handle whatever life throws at them.
Q: Harlem’s Little Blackbird is a beautiful book in both its story and in the remarkable pictures by Christian Robinson. Do you have a soft spot for picture books and the way they can bring a story to life so creatively? What medium do you enjoy the most and why?
RW: As an educator, I love using picture books in the classroom to teach even my older middle- or high-school students. I use them to teach plot, story arc, symbolism—there’s so much you can do in the classroom with picture books. And then, there’s my role as an auntie. I love snuggling with my nephews and nieces and reading morning or bedtime stories with them. There really is something special about witnessing a child discover words, point to pictures, and name the things they see. So, yes, I do have a soft spot for picture books. As a writer, it is so moving to see my words inspire a visual artist to create illustrations. Every time I receive a sketch, I am in awe. I enjoy the collaboration that happens between an author and an illustrator. There’s a certain level of trust and humility that goes into this work, and I have been so fortunate to work with two very talented artists. Both Shadra Strickland and Christian Robinson deepened the meaning of my words with their illustrations and that’s what you hope happens.
Read more of this interview and others at AuthorOf.blogspot.com.
With Earth Day around the corner, it seems a perfect time to spotlight 
I began exploring her early work about the ocean. What amazed me most was the freshness of Silent Spring – how it speaks to us today. Carson took incredible risks to publish Silent Spring, which had such an enormous impact on the beginning of the environmental movement in this country and around the world. I found her courage and dedication to writing clearly and truthfully very heroic, especially in light of her own battle with cancer as she was struggling to finish.
Q: Your book has just been named an Amelia Bloomer Book: What does this mean to you? And what does this mean for the book?
Judith Bloom Fradin’s remarkable writing career has spanned three decades already. And there’s much more still to come. Writing with her husband, Dennis Fradin, who passed away in August, they have produced more than 150 non-fiction books for children and won countless awards, such as the ABC Choice Award, IRA Teacher’s Choice Award, and School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. They have made a tremendous contribution to feeding hungry minds with fascinating information on topics ranging from tsunamis to Sacagawea toslavery.
Question: Many of your books focus on African American history and the lives of prominent black Americans. What has inspired you to write stories like Zora! and The Price of Freedom?
In other cases, a publisher asks us to do a series of books, such as the Marshall Cavendish series 
When my second-grade son brought home 
Question: Did Zita spring fully formed from your mind? Or did she evolve into the heroine we see in the books?
Q: Often it’s just the boys who get to be heroes on wild adventures and have all the fun, while girl protagonists are more often the stars of realistic fiction. Were you trying to fill that void with Zita? Why or why not?
Q: As an author-illustrator, you have not only to write and conceptualize your book, you have to pace it and draw it too. How long does each book take, from idea to finished illustration? Can you speak to the creative process of your books?
BH: The Return of Zita the Spacegirl (Zita 3) is completed and will be out later this year. I had a lot of fun writing and drawing this book, and I can hardly wait to share it with people!
Some writers are born with a knack for plotting. Others with an ear for dialogue. But few come into the world with as finely tuned a funny bone as author 
CC: A lot of my ideas never make it into books. That’s fine. Not all of my manuscripts are good enough to be made into books. Many people are surprised when I tell them that I have about 100 manuscripts of different lengths and degrees of completion in my computer, and yet I only have 13 books published. I’d say that most of my picture-book writing friends have just as many unsold manuscripts. Troubles arise when you feel you must publish a manuscript. Sometimes I’ll spend a long, long time on a manuscript and think that just because I’ve spent so much time and energy on it, I’ll sell it. Unfortunately that’s not the way it works.
Q: Because you write for the youngest readers, you must have a strong sense of the joys of being a child. Do you draw on memories from your childhood? Or have you just maintained a great connection to your younger self?
These are the kinds of things I think about. Like, all day. Hippo fairies, pig princesses, warthogs in love, professorial monkeys, it’s all funny to me. Animals make me laugh in general. There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not laughing at my pug.
Valentine’s Day is almost here, and love is in the air. Or if that’s not love, it’s a serious craving for chocolate. We’d like to celebrate the big day by talking to 
I remembered the year before, when my then first-grade son had come home from school on Valentine’s Day and begun sorting his class valentines into two piles – good and bad. I wondered how he was determining which valentine went into which pile, especially since he wasn’t even opening them. It turned out he didn’t know or care who the cards were from; the good ones had candy attached. For him, Valentine’s Day was Halloween in February. It was all about the candy.
Q: Did you find writing a picture book to be freeing in some ways from a middle-grade book? Were there more opportunities to tap your funny bone? 
Q: What do you hope young readers take away from your books – from Yuckiest to Jemma to Julia?
Author 
Amy Timberlake: 1871 Wisconsin found me more than I found it. See, I’m a birder. I was reading A.W. Schorger’s 
When 
There seems to be a bit of a disconnect.
Well, for readers, writers, and illustrators, this news is magical. And here’s why:
