Checking in with the Pinkneys

I have not finished the Spooky Season writing yet, but we are in Black History Month and I have been doing so much with children's literature that maybe this is a good time to spend some time on that.

I also have not finished reviewing all the works of Jerry Pinkney. I have gotten closer, but he had a long career that spanned decades, including some works that are quite hard to find.

However, I did find another subset among the children. 

Previously, son Myles Pinkney -- a photographer -- had contributed to two of his mother's books:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/06/spotlight-on-gloria-jean-pinkney-black.html 

It turns out that Myles has also done a few books with his wife, Sandra L. Pinkney:

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children (2000)

A Rainbow All Around Me (2002)

Read and Rise (2006)

I Am Latino: The Beauty in Me (2007)

Read and Rise was a collaboration with Scholastic and the National Urban League, celebrating reading. A Rainbow All Around Me highlights lots of other colorful objects, not just people, but the other two are very much about celebrating the beauty of children who might not automatically have their beauty and value recognized.

Sometimes it is easy to forget the progress that we have made. Less so now, but I will also write about that some next week.

Although books are not their primary career focus, they have connections through their family and they use their gifts in supportive ways.

It also occurred to me that Brian and Andrea might have new books too. They did.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/04/spotlight-on-brian-pinkney-black.html 

Brandon and the Baby by Brian Pinkney (2024)

Their kids are pretty well grown now, but Pinkney still shows a good understanding of children's issues, in this case about potential jealousy of a new sibling.

Maybe by now there are grandchildren.

And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison's Life in Stories by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Daniel Minter (2025)

I remember the last time I was going through Andrea's work, I was looking for this one, then saw it was not published yet. That's been about three years.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/06/spotlight-on-andrea-davis-pinkney.html 

Over the time I have been doing this, I have read a lot of children's books about very grown-up adults. This one is remarkably balanced, giving a pretty good introduction to The Bluest Eye, and it is beautiful and poetic... I was impressed.

It also reminded me that Morrison has written a few children's books herself.

We will deal with that a little bit next time.