Ashley Bryan Art Series (ABAS) Community Day

The ABAS Festival will engage the community with Carole Boston Weatherford and her son, Jeffery Boston Weatherford. They are a dynamic, creative duo in children’s and young adult literature, renowned for their profound exploration of African American heritage and history. There will be a special presentation by Ms. Carole Weatherford and Mr. Jeffrey Weatherford focused on the book, KIN: Rooted in Hope, book signing and a workshop presented by Jeffery Weatherford, Rap It Up.

Additionally, we will have puppet storytelling shows, face painting, art classes, family literacy, Henna temporary tattoos, creative writing workshops, chalk art, and free lunch.

About the Speakers:

The daughter of a printer, Carole Boston Weatherford was practically born with ink in her blood. She began writing at age 6 and soon after saw her poems in print. Her 80-plus books have garnered 2 NAACP Image Awards and 18 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award and 4 Caldecott Honors. Her career achievements have been recognized with the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and the Nonfiction Award from the Children’s Book Guild. The 2024 Young People’s Poet Laureate and a retired HBCU professor, she lives in Baltimore.

Jeffery Boston Weatherford is an award-winning children's book illustrator and a rapper. His latest book, Rap It Up! Was inspired by workshops merging writing and technology. KIN: Rooted in Hope won a Coretta Scott King Honor and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Poetry. His debut book, You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen, was named an ALSC Notable Book and a best book of the year by National Council for the Social Studies and Kirkus Reviews. Jeffery's art has been exhibited in Washington, DC, Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina. Formerly a National Book Foundation teaching artist, he holds an M.F.A. from Howard University where he was a Romare Bearden Scholar.

Celebrate your new reader with our My First Library Card: Super Reader VIP Party from 11am-noon during the Ashley Bryan Art Festival.

We will have stories, crafts, and fun activities to spread the joy and importance of reading. Register here:

Host or Publisher South Florida Book Festival