Interview Part 1: Paula Young Shelton

FLR: From the time you were a child, your family was very involved in the American civil rights movement, from hosting planning meetings to marching from Selma to Montgomery. You thought of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as “Uncle Martin.” With such a wealth of experiences, was it difficult to decide what to share in your first picture book for children, Child of the Civil Rights Movement?

PYS: Absolutely. My first draft was probably two or three books. My editor encouraged me to focus it on one event so that was very helpful in deciding what would be included. As I was forced to cut certain stories I began to think of it as another book, and now I have a series of civil rights stories in mind that I would like to write in order to include some of my other experiences.

FLR: Was there a reason you chose a picture book format instead of, for example, a middle–grade reader, for sharing your childhood experiences?

PYS: I’m a first grade teacher and a unit on civil rights is part of our curriculum so I am always looking for good books to share with my class. I found that while there are stories about individuals such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, there is not much for young children about the civil rights movement in general and how it impacted children. Also, since it is from the viewpoint of a young child, I thought it was appropriate to tell the story in a format that I would have enjoyed at that age.

FLR: Did you get to choose Raúl Colón as your illustrator, or is that something the publisher did for you?

PYS: The publisher chose the illustrator and I was very concerned about this. I tried to make suggestions but I could not have chosen anyone better than Raúl Colón. He has so beautifully captured my family and my visual memory. It is amazing, but I look at some of the pictures and they are just as I saw them in my mind’s eye.

FLR: How do you utilize your unique background as a child of a civil rights leader to relate to children in the classroom?

PYS: The civil rights movement was about accepting all people for who they are and allowing everyone an opportunity. I try to accept my students as unique individuals and celebrate the differences as we learn to work together, as well as teach them to embrace diversity and be accepting of one another. Every child deserves the right to express who they are in their own way and demonstrate their knowledge in the way that works best for them. In my classroom I try to provide a variety of ways for students to show what they know and to experience success.

FLR: Have your personal experiences affected the way you present civil rights issues to your students?

PYS: Certainly. I began writing this book by telling stories to pre–K and kindergarten classes. In my school we have a big Martin Luther King Day program, but it is too long and complex for the youngest students. A few years ago, one of the teachers asked me to talk to the students about my experiences. I talked about my Uncle Martin, told stories my Daddy had told me and taught them protest songs and now it’s become a tradition. The students are more interested in hearing about my Uncle Martin than Martin Luther King, Jr. and they are always very engaged. It gives them a connection to this great historical figure and they are excited about learning more because they feel they can relate to him through me.

FLR: Have you tried this book out on your students yet?

PYS: I have not. I am saving it for this January when we begin our civil rights unit. However, I have read it to my own children and other groups of children.

FLR: How old do you think today’s children generally are before they realize that there are still civil rights issues affecting them today?

PYS: I would think that a middle school child would start becoming aware of civil rights issues but it really depends on the child and his or her environment. Unfortunately for an African–American child it is going to come sooner rather than later, but also for a child of gay parents or a disabled child or a child of immigrants.

FLR: As a first–grade teacher and member of the National Black Child Development Institute, how do you celebrate Black History Month with your students? Do you have any suggestions for librarians looking to celebrate Black History Month in more meaningful ways?

PYS: I am fortunate to be in a school that values the contributions of all Americans, so we include Black history in the study of American history, and I believe this is really the best way to make Black History Month meaningful. Even in first grade, by February we have already covered an introduction to African Kingdoms and slavery and a brief history of Africans in America to give the students a historical backdrop for the civil rights movement. Then we study MLK, Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges, a first grader who integrated public schools in Louisiana. In February we allow the students to choose from a collection of biographies on African–Americans so that they can focus on someone they admire or have a connection to.

FLR: What gap in the juvenile African–American history literature do you think Child of the Civil Rights Movement fills? What other key moments or key figures in African–American history do you think should be covered more in children’s literature? Do you have any plans for future books?

PYS: By telling the story from the child’s perspective I believe it allows the student to relate to an experience that is otherwise foreign to them. I remember my social studies books as a child that would follow children in another country through an average day and I loved those lessons. It made me realize that children around the world were just like me in so many ways. I hope that Child of the Civil Rights Movement will take children to a different time and place and help them identify with the characters so that they can understand on a more personal level what it was like. I would love to write a series of books following children during major events of the civil rights movement, such as The Poor Peoples’ Campaign and the March on Washington. We need a lot more juvenile literature on the civil rights movement that tells the story of all the other folks that worked and died to make America a better nation. I hope to write some of them.

FLR: Do any of your family members think your depiction of the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s too gentle? In general, what does your father think of the book?

PYS: He likes it because I wrote it and in general he is a very supportive father. He realizes that this is a children’s book and that it would not be appropriate to be too graphic or detailed about some of the events. During the movement, he and my mother were very careful to shield us from the real dangers. We were never worried that my father would be killed, though he certainly could have been. In fact, I was an adult before I saw a video of my father being brutally beaten by the police.

FLR: Growing up, your family was deeply involved in the struggle for civil rights, and your own family now works on civil rights issues. What do you think are two or three of the most important civil rights issues facing the U.S. today?

PYS: My husband is the Director of Government Affairs for the NAACP and his job is to ensure that the government is advancing and protecting the civil rights of all Americans. His primary concerns today are around police misconduct, predatory lending in the housing market and education equity. There are other issues around protecting the civil rights of the GLBT community and immigrants that are also very important. Civil rights issues are not just black and white issues and discrimination is not always as blatant as segregation, but we still have a lot of work to do to insure that all Americans have an equal opportunity to achieve the American dream.

FLR: As a nation do you think that we will ever again achieve the kind of focus and unity to solving social problems that occurred during the 1960s?

PYS: There has always been opposition to people trying to bring about change. During the civil rights movement there were blacks and whites that were opposed to integration and it took a long time and the loss of many lives before things began to change. Many believe that the election of Barack Obama, who garnered more white votes than either Kerry or Gore, represented a unified effort to bring about change and I am hopeful that it will. His election is certainly the manifestation of the success of the civil rights movement to a degree that many of its participants could not have ever imagined.

Interview Part 2: Raúl Colón

FLR: Your illustrations are very unique, combining bright colors with the appearance of a rough texture. Can you describe the process you use to create your art? How did you develop a personal style?

RC: I work on medium textured watercolor paper, cold press. I start with a golden wash overall. I pencil in the full drawing followed by layers of monochromatic values (usually sepias and browns) all in watercolor. I etch the paper. Then I use Prismacolor pencils and add the final multiple layers of full color to the piece. I complete the artwork with a layer of lithograph pencil (waxy black) to bring out the soft texture of the paper. Most of this technique came about through years of accidents and experimentation.

FLR: How did you create the crosshatching lines that overlay some of the illustrations, which add texture so nicely?

RC: The crosshatching lines are etched onto the paper using a scratchboard metallic instrument with multiple prongs, like a tiny comb.

FLR: Do you vary your style when you are working with different types of stories?

RC: Sometimes I’ve used pen and ink to illustrate some stories such as Mightier Than the Sword and How to Bake an American Pie. I used pure black Prismacolor and lithograph pencils to illustrate B/W pieces in the old New York Times Book Review.

FLR: You’ve illustrated many picture books, winning in 2008 the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor for My Name Is Gabito: The Life Of Gabriel García Márquez. Do you have a personal favorite (besides Child of the Civil Rights Movement, of course)?

RC: I wrote and illustrated a picture book, Orson Blasts Off. That was unnerving and fun. A Weave of Words was another (the only book where I had the chance to draw a full–blooded, mean looking monster). But these are just “some” of my favorites.

FLR: What effect did winning the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor have on your career?

RC: The Pura Belpré Award led to more recognition. It feeds the fire to keep you doing the best you can.

FLR: Your artwork has been featured on a mural in New York City and also on the cover of The New Yorker. Do you prefer doing children’s work to working for an adult audience?

RC: Do I like breathing in or out? I need them both. Right now I’m doing a lot more children’s work, but I’d like to balance that out a bit by adding some “adult” fare.

FLR: In the past, you have illustrated works by Monica Brown and Pat Mora (Doña Flor) with very successful results. Are there any other Latino authors you are particularly interested in working with?

RC: It would be great if Gabriel García Márquez wrote a picture book and I was the illustrator. I mean great for me.

FLR: You also recently won the Sidney Taylor Book Award for As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom. How was it different this time to illustrate a book on the civil rights movement from a child’s perspective instead of an adult’s perspective?

RC: Most picture books are told from a child’s perspective. For some reason I enjoy a child’s perspective a little more. It’s pure truth.