Multicultural Children's Book Day Spotlight: Tonya Bolden

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight: Tonya Bolden

January 20, 2015

We are very excited to welcome yet another author to our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight: Shining the Light on Inclusive Authors & Illustrators series! Today we are welcoming author Tonya Bolden and her latest book, Capital Days: Michael Shiner’s Journal and the Growth of Our Nation’s Capital

Tonya Bolden, a Princeton University magna cum laude baccalaureate with a master’s degree from Columbia University, is an award-winning author/co-author/editor of more than two dozen books for young people. They include Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, a Coretta Scott King honor book and James Madison Book Award winner; MLK: Journey of a King, winner of a National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children; Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty, an ALSC Notable Children’s Book, CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and winner of the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Middle Level Book Award. Bolden’s recent books are Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America and Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer. Her latest is Capital Days: Michael Shiner’s Journal and the Growth of Our Nation’s Capital. Tonya Bolden lives in New York City.

1. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet and why?

My favorite letter of the alphabet is T—and it’s not because my first name starts with that letter. It’s because when I see the letter “T” I think of balance and strength. When I hear the letter T, I think of “brisk” and “crisp.”

2. What do you want readers to know about your latest book?

I would like readers to know that my latest book, Capital Days, is full of action, folly, and some truths that are stranger than fiction.

3. As an author, how do you know when you have discovered an idea for your next book?

I know when I have discovered an idea for a next book when I find myself doing impromptu research on a person or an event I stumbled upon or someone brought to my attention.

4. What was the catalyst for creating your latest book?

The catalyst for Capital Days is the subject of the book: Michael Shiner. He was a remarkable human being, a true original. This spunky man, born in the early nineteenth-century, endured many tragedies—starting at birth!— but ultimately triumphed. I felt that he deserved to have his life story brought into wider view. And there’s a bonus: as Shiner literally grew up with Washington, DC, readers learn about the growth of our capital as they learn about Shiner’s life.

5. What’s next?

Too early so say, really. Chickens won’t be hatching for a while.

To learn more about Tonya Bolden, please visit her website.

More books by Tonya Bolden: