On Friday, January 31, freshman Payton Pitts climbed up the front steps of the auditorium stage, for the second time this year, to assist author and illustrator Don Tate in an exhibition. Tate explained to the 3-12 grade audience that everyone has their own unique style of drawing. So, for the next five minutes, Tate worked quickly on a large poster board to demonstrate his own unique illustration style. Pitts sat patiently as Tate used a black marker and his imagination to work through Pitts’ “big ears” and “lovely hair.” By the end, Tate had the audience’s full attention as he proudly revealed the caricature to the crowd.

An award-winning author and illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, Tate is known internationally for his work, which centers around sharing the black voice through nonfiction children’s stories. Many consider Tate to be an activist for his efforts to promote racial and cultural inclusiveness in children’s literature and his contributions to the #WeNeedDiverseBooksCampaign. Tate also runs The Brown Bookshelf, a blog consisting of a group of authors and illustrators pushing awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers.

Tate began his MX presentation with a quick personal history. Tate’s love for drawing began when he was three years old. As a young boy, Tate aspired to be a puppeteer, learning how to sew and making his own puppets from scratch. However, his father had more traditional hopes, and encouraged Tate to focus on sports and to give up on “making dolls.” But, despite his father’s skepticism, Tate continued to foster his artistic desire. Ironically, Tate is now a self-proclaimed “gym rat” and has even competed in drug-free bodybuilding.

Tate first began his career in children’s books as an illustrator in 2000 with the book Say Hey: A Song of Willie Mays. After years of illustrating, Tate transitioned to writing children’s books as well in 2012. His first book, It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, was turned down by publishers for a number of reasons. Tate went through countless drafts and rewrites before a publisher finally agreed to print his book. The book went on to receive numerous awards such as a Lee & Low New Voices Honor Award and an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor. In 2012, it was selected as a Kirkus Best Children’s Books List Selection, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, and a New York Public Library Top 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing as well as one of Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year. Since 2012, he has written two more books and illustrated many more.

When asked which of his books was his favorite, Tate responded “all of them”.

To conclude his presentation, Tate invited a student from the crowd to join him onstage. The student was instructed to close his eyes and scribble on the poster with a marker. Tate then took the marker and began to create. To the crowd’s amazement, Tate used the curves and lines of the scribbles to form the image of a woman with large hair and earrings. 

“And this concludes the Morning Ex,” said Tate.