Kadir Nelson

Updated on Oct 03, 2024

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Name Kadir Nelson Role Artist		Education Pratt Institute

Awards Caldecott Medal, Sibert Medal Nominations Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books Books We Are the Ship, Heart and Soul, Henry's Freedom Box: A Tr, Moses: When Harriet Tu, Mama Miti Similar People Carole Boston Weatherford, Ellen Levine, Ntozake Shange, Jerdine Nolen, Donna Jo Napoli Profiles Twitter

Kadir nelson 2013 national book festival

Kadir Nelson (born May 15, 1974) is an African-American artist, illustrator and author. His work is focused on African-American culture and history.

Kadir Nelson Mything Mandela Teaching for Change

Kadir nelson 2011 national book festival

Early life

Kadir Nelson Cover Story Nelson Mandela Hero The New Yorker

Nelson was born in Washington, DC, the son of author and motivational speaker Emily-Diane Gunter. He received his early training in art from his uncle, Michael Morris,who was an artist and art instructor.Nelson graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Exhibitions

Kadir Nelson Kadir Nelson for The New York Times David Walter Banks

Nelson has had exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and the world, including the Museum of Tolerance, and the Society of Illustrators.

Bibliography

Illustrations only unless otherwise indicated.

Brothers of the Knight by Debbie Allen. Dial, 1999.

Big Jabe by Jerdine Nolen. HarperCollins, 2000.

Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan. Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Dancing in the Wings, Debbie Allen. Dial, 2000.

Just the Two of Us by Will Smith. Scholastic, 2001.(NAACP Image Award)

Please, Baby, Please by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Under the Christmas Tree by Nikki Grimes. HarperCollins, 2002.

The Village that Vanished by Ann Grifalconi. Dial, 2002.

Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen. Harcourt, 2003.

Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange. Simon & Schuster, 2004. (Coretta Scott King Author Award)

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, based on the traditional song lyrics. Dial, 2005.

The Real Slam Dunk by Charisse Richardson. Dial, 2005.

Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life by Jerdine Nolen. Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Please, Puppy, Please by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2006 (2007 Caldecott Honor book)

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, Ellen Levine. Scholastic, 2007.(2008 Caldecott Honor book)

Michael's Golden Rules by Deloris Jordan, introduction by Michael Jordan. Simon & Schuster, 2007.

We Are the Ship:The Story of Negro League Baseball, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, foreword by Hank Aaron, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2008.

Abe's Hones Words, by Doreen Rappaport. Hyperion, 2008. ISBN 978-142310408-7

Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit, quotations from Barack Obama, black and white line drawings by Kadir Nelson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4169-8955-4

Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson, by Sharon Robinson, Scholastic, 2009; ISBN 978-0-545-05251-1

All God's Critters, song lyrics by Bill Staines, Simon & Schuster, 2009

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya, by Donna Jo Napoli, Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4169-3505-6

A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis, by Matt de la Peña, Dial Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8037-3167-7

Nelson Mandela, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, 2013, ISBN 0061783749

Baby Bear, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, 2014

Book awards

Nelson is a two-time Caldecott Honor Award winner. He received an NAACP Image Award for the book Just the Two of Us. For his book, We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, he received the 2008 CASEY Award for best baseball book, the 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the 2009 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award. His book, Nelson Mandela, was a Coretta Scott King honor book in 2014.

Album cover art

Kadir Nelson Kadir Nelson His Work and His Process Arts Elevated

Nelson created the mural used as cover art for Michael Jackson's posthumous 2010 album Michael.

On Friday, December 10, 2010, a 29,070-square-foot (2,701 m²) poster depicting the Michael album artwork was erected at the Rectory Farm in Middlesex, England, which broke a Guinness World Record for the largest poster in the world.

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013, it was announced that Nelson had created the work of art used for Drake's 2013 album Nothing Was the Same.

Postage stamps

Nelson designed the pair of 44-cent U.S. postage stamps that were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2010, to honor Negro Leagues baseball, and a pair that honored basketball star Wilt Chamberlain in 2014.

References

Kadir Nelson Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA