John Steptoe
Beginning at age 18, John Steptoe began creating award-winning picture books for children. It was a career that would last only 20 years, as he died in 1989 at age 38 after a long illness.
Born in Brooklyn in 1950, he started work on his first picture book when he was 16, a book that would be published to critical acclaim. He underwent formal art training at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, the HARYOU-ACT Art Program, and the Vermont Academy.
Throughout his career, Steptoe illustrated 15 more picture books, 10 of which he wrote. Two of his books were recognized as Caldecott Honor Books and two were recognized with the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. He was also the 1989 winner of the Milner Award, an award that Atlanta schoolchildren vote on to recognize their favorite author.
The American Library Association now gives an award in his name, the John Steptoe Award for New Talent. It is an award that recognizes new talent in writing or illustration. It is given each year to a black author and a black illustrator.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Uptown |
Outside Inside Poems |
Train Ride |
The Story of Jumping Mouse |
All Us Come Across the River |
Stevie |
My Special Best Words |
She Come Bringing Me That Little Baby Girl |
Jeffrey Bear Cleans Up His Act |
Birthday |
Daddy Is a Monster…Sometimes |
Baby Says |
Marcia |
|
All the Colors of the Race |
Creativity |
