I was thrilled to hear this week’s announcement that Ekua Holmes has won the 2019 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for The Stuff of Stars. Even more noteworthy, this is the second year in a row that Ekua has won this award! Last year she was honored for her illustrations for Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards celebrate their 50^th anniversary this year; you can visit this website to see resources and program and activity ideas for your school or library. This site lists the names and book titles for the other 2019 winners.

When The Stuff of Stars was published in September, I talked with Ekua about the illustrations; the interview is posted on my website. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, I hope you’ll take a look—it provides deep insights into her creative process. You can also visit Ekua’s own website to see more of her stunning artwork.

Congratulations, Ekua, on this wonderful honor!