Introduction to the Inspiring Life of Author Mildred D. Taylor
Introduction You’ve probably read a few books in your lifetime. But have you ever read a book that changed your life? That’s what Mildred D.
You can’t easily encapsulate Andrea Davis Pinkney’s impact on readers and her efforts to publish more books for young readers.
She is a New York Times-Bestselling author, an accomplished editor, a visionary publisher, and now the co-curator of a museum exhibition. Plus, she has bagged many prestigious awards and earned international recognition for her works.
She has written picture book biographies, poetry, narrative nonfiction, and novels.
But, she wasn’t always like this; she had trouble learning to read until she found a book by Dr. Seuss that “spoke to her.”
Yes. In an interview, she said Dr. Seuss’ wordplay, poetry, and singing spoke to her and helped her learn to read.
Let’s learn more about her life, writings, and achievements.
On September 25, 1963, Andrea Davis was born in Washington, D.C. Her parents were excessively involved in the civil rights movement and had to move for the cause continuously. This is why she spent most of her childhood in Connecticut, where her parents could participate in the movement.
Andrea observed her parents’ active participation in the movement from an early age; they even took her to the National Urban League’s annual conference during her summer vacations.
This earlier exposure to activism and social justice shaped her personality and made her into the writing icon and leader she is today.
Andrea really struggled in school. As a student, she hated round-robin reading sessions when each student had to take turns reading aloud from the same book.
However, her parents didn’t let her fall prey to “the myth of genius,” as she explained in an interview. She explained the myth as a “false belief that struggling readers internalize. This idea that you need to be some kind of super-human to read well or to fully enjoy literature.”
Her parents instead nurtured her interest in storytelling and writing by encouraging her to put her ideas into notebooks without worrying about spelling or grammar. They told her just to write.
They also taught her that looking at pictures in books was a form of reading. And that having someone read to you is also a powerful portal into the world of literature. Both of them would take turns reading together and teaching their child freely at home when she was away from the gaze of her classmates.
With time, she grew more comfortable with words and their meanings and soon started reading independently.
Her whole family loved books and had many storytellers. In an interview, she revealed, “We had an unspoken code in our home; when you sat down at the dinner table, you had to come prepared to tell a story about your day. It was all very low-pressure and fun.”
Her dad was a master at it. He could turn mundane and simple situations into color tales packed with dialogues, characters, emotions, and a bit of humor. He also told stories about the legacy of Black people, their family heritage, struggles, triumphs, and traditions.
Her parents often related these stories to Black history and reminded Andrea and her siblings they were part of something bigger and eternal. Her dad would tell her century-old stories about the grit and determination of black people up to the civil rights movement.
So, as a whole, her family provided her with tools for writing and filled her world with stories and experiences that helped her make an extraordinary career in children’s literature.
Andrea studied journalism at Syracuse University and graduated in 1985. From there, she started working as an editor at Mechanix Illustrated. She then went on to work as a senior editor at Essence, which was the premier publication for Black women. There she oversaw the magazine’s Lifestyle department and created children’s book roundups for Black families.
She then moved as an editor to book publishers Simon & Schuster and Scholastic.
While working at the magazines, she became more agile at brainstorming new ideas as she needed to create a monthly publication. This taught her to think long-term and helped shape her thinking capabilities.
While Andrea worked at one of these early editing jobs, she dated Brian Pinkney, who was a Caldecott Honor-winning children’s book illustrator. The two got along well and later married.
It was Brian who convinced Andrea to start writing children’s books.
In the future, the two collaborated on a number of books, including Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, Duke Ellington, Seven Candles for Kwanzaa, and Dear Benjamin Banneker.
Andrea loved working with her husband. In an interview, she said,
“Working with the one you love can be a beautiful experience or a total disaster! Thankfully, we’ve developed some great strategies for making books while staying happily married. There have definitely been some swerves in the road. We’ve learned from those. We’ve developed some guidelines that have worked for decades of bookmaking as an author-artist team.”
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Andrea wrote numerous books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, and works of historical fiction and nonfiction. Her writing primarily focused on African-American culture.
Besides working as an author, she had an illustrious career as a children’s book publisher and editor. Collectively, she’s worked on more than 30 books in total.
She was also the founder of the “first African American children’s book imprint” at two major publishing companies: Hyperion Books for Children and the Disney Book Group (now Disney Publishing Worldwide).
Currently, she is also vice president and editor-at-large for Scholastic Trade Books.
Her writings have earned her numerous awards, respect, and recognition.
She has won the following honors and awards:
Moreover, she was chosen to deliver the 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Children’s Literature Research Collections.
She was also cited in January 2013 for “significant contributions to literature for young people provided through a body of work that brings a deeper understanding of African American heritage.”
Overall, she’s enjoyed a successful career and a happy life.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband Brian and two children.
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