Pinkney, Sandra L. 1965–

Personal

Born 1965, in Vahalla, NY; daughter of Alfred (a presser) and Frances (an insurance adjuster) McRae; married Myles C. Pinkney (a photographer); children: Myles "Leon" Jr., Charnelle-Rene, Rashad. Education: State University of New York, Empire State College, C.D.A. (early childhood education); attended Duchess Community College. Religion: Baptist. Hobbies and other interests: Running, softball, singing, acting, crocheting, and collecting angels.

Addresses

Home—30 Spring St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Agent—Sheldon Fogelman, 10 E. 40th St., New York, NY 10016.

Career

Author and educator. Lil' Praiser's Christian Day-Care, Poughkeepsie, NY, director, 1996—.

Member

National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Black Child Development Institute.

Awards, Honors

Image Award for Outstanding Children's Literary Works, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children, 2001.

Writings

Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children, photographs by husband Myles C. Pinkney, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

A Rainbow All around Me, photographs by Myles C. Pinkney, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Read and Rise, photographs by Myles C. Pinkney, foreword by Maya Angelou, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

I Am Latino: The Beauty in Me, photographs by Myles C. Pinkney, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

Sandra L. Pinkney is the award-winning author of picture books such as Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children, all illustrate with color photographs by

her husband, Myles C. Pinkney. Her books celebrate diversity by displaying photographs of children from many ethnicities. They encourage children to appreciate multicultural environments and emphasize the fun of reading. Through her work, Pinkney joins the clan headed by her husband's parents, prominent children's book creators Jerry and Gloria Pinkney.

In Shades of Black Pinkney describes the many different skin, eye, and hair tones of African-American children, both verbally and visually. "I came up with the idea for the book while sitting down in the library and reading a book on how to write poetry," she once told SATA. "It started out ‘I like chocolate.’ I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, I like chocolate.’ It went on to say, ‘Chocolate is sweet.’ I thought again, ‘Yeah, it is sweet. Hey! I could write this.’ … But I can't write about chocolate. That's been done, I told myself. I looked around and looked at my hands and said, ‘I am black.’ I realized I could write about how I am black and differences and beauty in the black race." While Tammy K. Baggett, writing in School Library Journal, praised Shades of Black as "vivid," a Kirkus Reviews critic wrote that its "patterned text [is] full of rich vocabulary." Pinkney's work "can certainly be appreciated by children of any color," concluded Booklist reviewer Denia Hester.

A Rainbow All around Me features a wider multiethnic cast, as youngsters of all shades represent each of the colors of the rainbow. Green refers not to eye color, but to objects alongside the child pictured, such as grass and Granny Smith apples. "Kids will enjoy reading the jazzy lyrical text," predicted a contributor to Black Issues Book Review. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor observed that Myles Pinkney's photographs "take center stage," but added that Sandra's "spare text with a poetic beat carries the reader from page to page." In Booklist Shelley Townsend-Hudson concluded that in A Rainbow All around Me "the message of racial awareness and tolerance is well served."

The Pinkneys created Read and Rise as a contribution to a program designed by Scholastic and the National Urban League to promote reading. Particularly geared toward African-American youngsters, the book emphasizes the power of reading and the fun it can bring. The children pictured read about professions and adventures, then have similar adventures themselves, dressing up as firefighters, astronauts, or ballerinas. "Powerful verbs match the vivid portrayal of children succeeding," wrote Alexa L. Sandman in School Library Journal, while Julie Cummins noted in Booklist that Read and Rise serves as "an effective tool for encouraging reading for every child."

With I Am Latino: The Beauty in Me the Pinkneys celebrate Latino culture, showing family members, foods, and dances. Sandra's text is paired with Spanish-language translations of simple phrases ranging from goodbye/adios and sister/hermana, to more complex food names like banana milkshake/batido de plantano.

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

"Readers will take pleasure in this quiet, joyful book," Melissa Christy Buron predicted in her favorable School Library Journal review.

Pinkney once told SATA: "My favorite time to write is early in the morning, 4:00 a.m. before the birds get up. I believe that is when God gives me my greatest inspirations. I enjoy writing poetry, but I also enjoy writing short stories and inspirational stories."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, March-April, 2002, Lynda Jones, review of A Rainbow All around Me, p. 68.

Booklist, November 1, 2000, Denia Hester, review of Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children, p. 548; February 1, 2002, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of A Rainbow All around Me, p. 948; February 1, 2006, Julie Cummins, review of Read and Rise, p. 70.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 2001, review of Shades of Black, p. 193.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2000, review of Shades of Black; December 1, 2001, review of A Rainbow All around Me, p. 1689; December 1, 2005, review of Read and Rise, p. 1278; June 1, 2007, review of I Am Latino: The Beauty in Me. Language Arts, September, 2002, Daniel L. Darigan, "Sorting out the Pinkneys," pp. 75-80.

Publishers Weekly, November 20, 2000, "Excursions in Diversity," p. 70; January 28, 2002, review of A Rainbow All around Me, p. 293.

School Library Journal, December, 2000, Tammy K. Baggett, review of Shades of Black, p. 135; March, 2002, Grace Oliff, review of A Rainbow All around Me, p. 198; January, 2006, Alexa L. Sandman, review of Read and Rise, p. 112; July, 2007, Melissa Christy Buron, review of I Am Latino, p. 83.

ONLINE

Calvin College Web site,http://www.calvin.edu/ (April 6, 2006), Myrna Anderson, "Pinkneys Make Festival a Family Affair."

Scholastic Web site,http://www2.scholastic.com/ (September 29, 2008), "Sharon L. Pinkney."