Debut author/illustrator Vashti Harrison pairs captivating text with stunning illustrations as she tells the stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history - from nurse Mary Seacole, to politician Diane Abbott, mathematician Katherine Johnson and singer Shirley Bassey. I wanted to see black girls treated with the same sweetness as classic characters like that inspire me!

It harkens back to classic children's illustrations done by Mary Blair or Mr Happy by Roger Hargreaves. And Josephine Baker- world famous cabaret singer and dancer- was also a spy for the French resistance?Featuring 18 trailblazing black women in American history, Dream Big, Little One is the irresistible board book adaptation of Vashti Harrison's Debut book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History.

I don't have official word on all of this and may need to defer to my publisher and agent for a lot of things, but here I've answered some of the most frequent questions I get about Little Leaders!

Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in the world's history, this book educates and inspires as it relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations. Now, utilizing both skillsets, she is passionate about crafting beautiful stories for children and young adults in the film and kidlit worlds. It resulted in this beautiful and profound book, which chronicles the struggles and achievements of historic and contemporary black women.

For me its also really important to showcase boldness and bravery can come in different shapes and sizes.It wonderful to remind kids of what potential is in them and to see what others have already achieved. I've been on a quest to find books that aren't entirely full of white heterosexual middle class imagery. Additionally, since I saw them as children dressing up as famous women, I wanted the page to feel like they're playing pretend. I love thinking that they're closing their eyes, looking inside themselves, to step into the shoes of these famous people, emulating their story.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. This is my debut book, so I'm definitely new to the world of publishing and may not be able to provide all of the answers.It’s excellent that children can get an introduction to lesser-known African American women such as abolitionist Mary Prince and sculptor Augusta Savage, alongside the better-known Rosa Parks and Sojourner Truth. She earned her BA from the University of Virginia as a double major in Media Studies and Studio Art with concentrations in Film and Cinematography.