How did you balance these as you wrote?īarnes: I made a running list of everything that embodies the emotions, actions, goals, desires, strengths and weaknesses of my own sons. We want to leave a positive mark on our world.ĭerrick, the text of this new book is a set of affirmations that strike a balance between the tangible (“I am skateboard tricks”) and the intangible (“I am hilarious”). We both want everything we create, together and separately, to be our best work. How would it stack up? I was excited about the challenge to meet or even exceed those expectations. James: After Crown, people were waiting to see what we’d do together next. We both agree on the message, the target audience and how much these affirming illustrations and words mean to Black and Brown boys.

Gordon was meant to bring this story to life. We went through at least three or four illustrators, who all turned it down. What was different about that process this time? What was the same?īarnes: The major difference was, when I wrote Crown, I didn’t even have a book deal, let alone an illustrator for the project.

This is your first time working on a project together since the success of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. BookPage spoke to Barnes and James about the new book, what it was like to work together again and the good things in their lives right now. I Am Every Good Thing, which pairs James’ lush illustrations with Barnes’ lyrical ode to Black boyhood, is sure to satisfy even the most exacting of readers. Needless to say, the expectations for their next project together were high. James’ first collaboration, the picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, won a Caldecott Honor, a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Honors, the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers and more. Author Derrick Barnes’ and illustrator Gordon C.

Crown by derrick barnes