DuEwaWorld News! by DuEwa Frazier

Keisha Bussey  Chance to Dance by Keisha Bussey Illustrated by Tyrus Goshay Author Bio Keisha Bussey is the author of Chance to Dance . She is also a dance educator. Keisha has a passion for dance and life with her students and colleagues.  She has been a dance educator for 19 years.  She believes in implementing dance books into dance curriculum.  As a little girl, she always had a love for books.  Her mother taught her to enhance her imagination while reading.  Keisha credits her early reading with her mother for an increase in her reading fluency as she became a more effective reader throughout school.  She also credits her third-grade teacher, Ms. Curry with inspiring her love for reading and books.   Author Interview DF: Tell us about your journey as a writer.  When did you start?   KB: My journey as a writer was a long process because I started with a chapter book then  decided I...

Celebrating Alice's Musical Debut & Multicultural Children's Book Day!   DuEwa Frazier  is a proud Author Sponsor for  Multicultural Children's Book Day  that is being celebrated on January 31, 2020.   With the release of  Alice's Musical Debut , a diverse children's picture book with African American child protagonist Alice McLeod (young Alice Coltrane), DuEwa joins the ranks of committed children's book creators and educators to celebrate young readers and promote diversity in children's book publishing.  Authors, publishers, editors, illustrators, educators, and others who champion diverse books for young readers will celebrate books that that feature multicultural content for children.   The importance of diverse books for children is that children of all backgrounds and ethnic groups can see themselves in the pages of these books.  The promoters of multicultural books for children have a vested interest in creating...

I'm excited to announce my newest title,  Quincy Rules   (October 2016, Lit Noire Publishing/CreateSpace) a teen novel!  Read the description below, and check out Quincy Rules in  paperback  and  Kindle  editions at  Amazon.com ! Book Description Quincy Rules $9.99 192 pages Imagine receiving mysterious letters and cards with no return address, only colorful stamps from all around the world. These letters and cards tell little about the person who sends them, other than the fact that the sender, is the father you have never met. Quincy Lyles is a 15-year old teen who mastered yoga at a young age, gets straight A's in school and never gets into trouble. That is, until she starts to search for her birth father. Struggling to understand her true identify and background, Quincy goes on an adventurous quest to find her father. The one friend Quincy can depend on, Delaney Rojas, helps her in her quest. Quincy begins to develop parts of hersel...

Thanks to author, blogger Mia Wenjen , and team of children's authors, illustrators, and book promoters - Multicultural Children's Book Day is happening again this year on January 27, 2016!. I am happy to be an Author Sponsor for this celebration of multicultural children's books!   We STILL need #diverse children's books! And we need to celebrate them widely.  We need more children's authors of diverse children's books and more children's editor/publishers who have an interest in a myriad of stories, told by diverse author perspectives AND FOR diverse young readers around the globe.  Support this wonderful initiative and find our more about Multicultural Children's Book Day here ! - DuEwa Author of Alice's Musical Debut  (2019), Quincy Rules(2016), Deanne in the Middle(2014), Goddess Under the Bridge: Poems(2013), Ten Marbles and a Bag to Put Them In(2010), Check the Rhyme Anthology (editor 2006), and Shedding Light From My Journeys (2002, ...

Through the years I  have had great discussions about books with middle grade and high school students.  I've read novels such as Catcher in the Rye and Their Eyes Were Watching God with my students.  I've read memoirs such as Black, White and Jewis h and Down These Mean Streets with my students.  I've read essays by Zora Neale Hurston and James Baldwin with my students.  I've also read short stories from 145th Street Stories by Walter Dean Myers and "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid with them.  This was literature that was within our curriculum.  When it came to books that students were to self select, or read at home for more practice and endurance I received many comments that spoke to student frustration and apprehension. Students told me, "You [the school] don't have enough books for kids like us..." or "I don't read a lot because I can't find books that really interest me, about subjects I like..." or ...

Rhymes, Views & News Talk Radio is all new on Sunday, November 17th @ 6pm EST featuring young adult author Danette Vigilante !  Danette will discuss her first young adult novel, Trouble with Half a Moon and new forthcoming book, Saving Baby Doe (March 2014).  Listen live or call in to give a comment at (646) 716-9474.  Hosted to DuEwa Frazier .

The President Looks Like Me is a new book a poems forthcoming by poet, children's author and Howard University professor, Dr. Tony Medina.  The President Looks Like Me will be published by Just Us Books .   Tony Medina featured on RHYMES, VIEWS & NEWS TALK RADIO hosted by DuEwa Frazier on Sunday, September 30th @ 5pm EST!  Listen to the interview now!

Notable young adult fiction author, L. Divine releases her fifteenth installment of the highly acclaimed DRAMA HIGH series.  Street Soldiers by L. Divine is now available from Ebb & Flow Publications.   Set against the backdrop of contemporary Los Angeles, the DRAMA HIGH series follows the continuous struggles of Jayd Jackson, a seventeen-year-old high school student who seeks to simply live a drama-free existence while attending South Bay High, a.k.a. Drama High. DRAMA HIGH has the best of both young adult worlds: keep-it-real drama with a touch of the supernatural, and specifically highlights the multifaceted nature of today’s multicultural youth.       Visit www.dramahigh.com and connect with L. Divine via Twitter.com/DramaHigh for more information.  

Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 6pm The Park Slope Food Coop’s Wordsprouts Reading Series Featuring Author & Poet, DuEwa Frazier   The Park Slope Food Coop Meeting Room 782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves) (718) 622-0560 Co-curators Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso Free and open to the public Join award nominated poet, author and educator DuEwa Frazier for an evening of poetry! DuEwa will read from her latest book, Ten Marbles and a Bag to Put Them In: Poems for Children and facilitate a poetry workshop for children. Books will be available for parents and educators. All children are welcome. The poetry activities are geared toward ages 4-11. About the Author DuEwa Frazier is a poet, performance artist, speaker, author, educator and cultural organizer. She earned the M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing at The New School and the M.Ed. degree in Curriculum and Teaching at Fordham University . DuEwa has taught both youth and adults in the area...

  A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg tells the story of 10-year old Louis Daniel through his personal account of how his family survived Hurricane Katrina.  This is a great story to share with all children. Teachers will be able to use it in the classroom to discuss tragedy, the affect natural disasters have on people, and how children can become resilient even when facing difficulties.  Adults who were directly affected by Katrina, may be inspired to document their stories and help children do the same.  The events of Hurricane Katrina have so many angles that can be studied and discussed.  It's nice to see a children's book that brings a troubling part of history to light, in a way that children can access and understand. Read the New York Times review of A Storm ... 

ALA 2011: Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon, authors of Zora and Me with Editor Mary Lee Donovan Zora and Me , the young adult book written by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon received the 2011 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent award.  Congratulations to the authors!  Check out my earlier blog post on this wonderful book .  Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon I'm a huge fan of Zora Neale Hurston and I applaud the authors on their research and re-imagining Hurston's life as a young girl.   The authors attended the 2011 ALA Conference where they received the King-Steptoe honor.  The late John Steptoe was a brilliant and award winning illustrator of children's books.  His son, Javaka Steptoe continues his legacy as an illustrator. ALA 2011: Editor Andrea Davis Pinkney and Drawing from Memory author Allen Say ALA is one of the esteemed literary events where authors, educators, librarians, editors and other publishing profess...

Author Feature: Cheryl Willis Hudson! Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson & Bernette G. Ford DF: Cheryl you are an author, consultant, speaker, and highly respected founding co-publisher of Just Us Books . With your commitment to excellence in publishing and promoting books by African American authors, what keeps your vision as an author and publisher moving forward? CWH: Sometimes, it’s a challenge to remain positive in the face of all of the negative propaganda that is ever present on TV, in videos, and in the streets of our communities, but as the old folks say “Cream rises to the top.” African Americans have a rich and largely undiscovered history of innovation in the arts and we do have a tradition of excellence within our own institutions despite the pervasive images in the media to the contrary. It’s extremely important to keep that tradition of excellence in the forefront of our children’s lives rather than as a footnote or in the margins of history. Fo...

Popular children's book author and illustrator Richard Scarry would've been 92 this past June 5th. I have fond memories of my mom reading Richard Scarry books to me when I was very little. We had several of his beloved books in our library along with many other children's books. My parents were educators so literacy was very important. My favorites were Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks from A to Z , Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever ! , Richard Scarry's A Day at the Airport , Richard Scarry's Bedtime Stories , The Gingerbread Man and my MOST FAVORITE Richard Scarry book of all - Good Night, Little Bear ! What a soothing book that was at bedtime. I loved A Day at the Airport because my parents started putting me on planes by myself to see my grandmother in the Midwest when I was four!!! Imagine that. A four-year old traveling alone. I always had a stewardess minder so it was okay. I love The Gingerbread Man because I thought it was cool ...

Author Feature: Kelly Starling Lyons! NEATE: Eddie's Ordeal by Kelly Starling Lyons DF: You are the author of several children’s books: One Million Men and Me , NEATE: Eddie’s Ordeal and forthcoming Ellen’s Broom and Tea Cakes for Tosh . How did you start writing for children? KSL: As a child, I rarely saw children’s books featuring African-American kids. That’s why it moved me so much to see them as an adult. The first picture book I read with an African-American character on the cover was Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. That story spoke to me in such a special way. I knew I had to add my voice. The first story I wrote for kids was called Butterfly Wings . It was a story about a girl who wanted time to hurry up and make her taller. It was never published, but it still has a special place in my heart. The next was more personal. Isaiah’s Cake was about my brother’s relationship with our grand-dad and how he coped when my grand-dad passed away. For ...

The African-American presence in the technology space has been enhanced with the recent release of the first digital storybook for kids, “A Song for Miles.” Written by Dr. Tiffany S. Russell , “A Song for Miles” uses black musical history to teach children important life lessons. Launched to coincide with the start of Black Music Month, “A Song for Miles” was conceived and produced... READ more on this story via NEWS ONE 

Book Expo America (BEA) opens today in New York City at the Javits Center.   Among the many featured authors, publishing professionals, panels and exhibits is the ABA's Day of Education, BEA YA Author Buzz, Speed Dating with Children's Authors, Tea with Children's Authors and Children's Book and Author Breafast.  Featured children's/YA authors include Walter Dean Myers and son Christopher Myers, Sarah Dessen, Jerry Pinkney, R.L. Stine, Brian Selznick and more. Check out the schedule of children's book programming here.

Audrey is a teen who writes YA book reviews for Write4Kids ! and for her own blog Audrey Reads and Reviews.  I've come across a few of Audrey's tips for YA writers over the last several months.  Check out Audrey's new tip for writers: No Perfect Characters, Please!  

R HY MES, VIEWS & NEWS TALK RADIO is all NEW! Sunday, March 6th @ 3pm FEATURING Children's Author, Kyra E. Hicks Listen LIVE or call-in to talk with the guest author  at #646-716-9474! Kyra E. Hicks will discuss her books T his I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces (Black Threads Press, 2009), Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria (Brown Books Publishing, 2007, based on a true story) and Black Threads: An African American  Quilting  Sourcebook (McFarland & Co., 2003) and others.