Javaka Steptoe (born April 19, 1971) is an American author and illustrator. He won the 2017

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

as well as the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, and the

Coretta Scott King Book Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Award Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes ou ...

from the American Library Association for his picture book '' Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat''.

Early life

Javaka Steptoe was born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He is the son of John Steptoe, who twice won Caldecott Honors (for his book ''The Story of Jumping Mouse'' in 1985 and ''Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters'' in 1988.) Growing up, Javaka Steptoe served as a model for his father's books. He then attended

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

, earning a BFA.

Career

Steptoe's ''Radiant Child:'' ''The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat'' was initially inspired by an exhibit he saw of American artist

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

's artwork at the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

in 2005. The resulting picture book won the 2017

as well as the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature and the 2017 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award from the American Library Association''.'' Steptoe's other works include illustrating ''Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix'' (

Clarion Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...

, 2010) and writing and illustrating ''In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers'' (

Lee & Low Books Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher focusing on diversity. History Lee & Low was founded in 1991 by Chinese Americans Tom Low and Philip Lee as a children's book publisher specializing in books featuring people of color a ...

, 1997), which also won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and the 1998

Firecracker Alternative Book Award The Firecracker Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards focusing on small-press publishing. Previously known as the Firecracker Alternative Book Awards (FABs), in the current form they are known as the CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independ ...

Personal life

Steptoe lives in Brooklyn.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steptoe, Javaka 1971 births Living people American children's book illustrators Artists from Brooklyn Caldecott Medal winners Cooper Union alumni Writers from Brooklyn Coretta Scott King Award winners African-American illustrators 21st-century American illustrators African-American children's writers Writers who illustrated their own writing