Tandem recognizes and celebrates Black history and Black voices in children’s literature all year long. We acknowledge that Black history is American history, and that all of us have a role to play in abolishing anti-Black racism. We believe that there’s never been a more important time to raise children who are inclusive, empathetic, and able to think critically and compassionately about racial justice. 

That’s why we were especially honored to partner with Bank Street Education’s Black Lives Matter At Schools Year of Purpose to organize a live author panel on February 24. This event brought together four children’s book authors — Angela Dalton, Breanna J. McDaniel, Khalid White, and Robert Liu-Trujillo —  and over 300 participants for a magical evening. 

In an engaging, educational conversation facilitated by Sara Rizik-Baer, the authors talked about their books, why they write, and what they want children and grownups who read their books to take away from them. The panel concluded with a lightning round of questions, some of them audience-generated (“Would you rather have Cheeto dust on your fingers or a milk mustache?”), that offered us a fun window into the authors’ personalities. 

The author panel was followed by a thoughtful commentary from Aija Simmons, Program Manager of Social and Emotional Learning at Oakland Unified School District. Speaking from the perspectives of a parent, a program participant, and a community partner, Aija’s comments tied the author’s books and the panel discussion to Tandem’s programs and services, bringing the event to a graceful close.  

A full recording of the author panel is available here. 

Tandem is proud to have books by all four authors in our collection. Aside from being delightful reads, books like Hands Up!, If You Look Up to the Sky, Furqan’s First Flat Top, and Hermanito also open doors for grownups and children to talk about race, inclusion, and equity in an age-appropriate way with young children. The authors’ preferred links for purchasing the books are below; we hope you’ll check out these books and incorporate them into your next storytime experience. 

• Purchase If You Look Up to the Sky here and pre-order Ruby’s Reunion Day Dinner here
• Purchase Hands Up! 
• Purchase Furquan’s FIrst Flat Top 
• Purchase Khalid White’s books