Cherise Harris – illustratör

A Junior Library Guild Selection Meet Jerry Lawson, the Black engineer who revolutionized the video game industry, in this engaging picture book biography perfect for fans of Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions and Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History.Before Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch, there was a tinkerer named Jerry Lawson. As a boy, Jerry loved playing with springs, sprockets, and gadget-y things. When he grew up, Jerry became an engineer—a professional tinkerer—and in the 1970s, he turned his technical know-how to video games. Back then, if players wanted a new video game, they had to buy an entire new console, making gaming very expensive. Jerry was determined to fix this problem, and despite roadblocks along the way and having to repeat a level or two, it was never game over for his mission. Eventually, he leveled up and built a brand-new kind of video game console: one that allowed players to switch out cartridges! He also founded Video Soft, Inc., the first African American–owned video game company in the country. Jerry’s tinkering and inventions changed the video gaming world forever. Today, gamers have access to hundreds of video games at the push of a button, all thanks to him. Game on!

In this endearing picture book by superstar chef and beloved TV host Carla Hall, Carla’s grandmother helps her turn things around when a game of dress-up leads to a fancy tea party gone wrong.Carla and her sister Kim love visiting their grandparents’ home, where they can always count on having something fun to get into, like Granny’s old chest full of treasures! Dressed up in mounds of beautiful dresses, sparkling jewels, and fancy gloves, Carla decides the day wouldn’t be complete without a tea party for the girls’ special guests, Granny and Doc. But when Carla accidentally ruins her grandmother’s favorite quilt and famous pound cake, she fears that all the fun is spoiled. How can Carla and her family have a proper tea party without an elegant set up and delicious food? Then Carla’s grandmother steps in, sharing her recipe for a special cake. Will the secret ingredient help Carla save the day?

When a bird swoops in and steals the toy plane that reminds a boy of the grandmother he lost, he embarks on a fantastical voyage to retrieve it—and his most treasured memories—in this tender and imaginative picture book.Leonard loved his grandmother and has always dreamed of flying planes like the ones Granny did as a pilot. But now, all he has of her is memories—one that lives in a photograph, and another that lives in the special toy plane Leonard’s father gave him when Granny passed on. When Leonard’s toy gets stuck in a tree, a bird flies off with it, but before Leonard can despair, a large, magical egret sails down to take him on the flight of a lifetime—helping him discover how to hold on to memories of his granny without holding on to the grief that comes with them.