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Coretta Scott King Book Award Acceptance Speech July 14, 2009
I am 6 ft 3 inches tall.
I know a lot of people start with “when I was little”.
Well, I was never little.
Growing up I was always big for my age…always the tallest.
Other girls were small, little, cutesy, itsy bitsy even….come to think of it, most of the boys were too.
But feeling big, the bigness that one feels inside, that took a little longer to settle into.
I always felt it in the loving circle of my family.
I felt a glimmer of it in the moments of some of my favorite stories—like when my mother asked God for a child, when David beat Goliath, when Peter woke up to a snowy day, when Manyara won her prince.
I think that 40 years ago, a group of people understood what feeling big is, with the hope of giving it to ALL children, and today, the people who continue to carry the torch still inspire children to be a little bigger, a little taller, a little stronger.
Bigness…I felt it again my first day of high school, going off to college, living abroad, getting into grad school, and being offered a manuscript named “Bird”…but winning the John Steptoe award has made me feel not just big, but giant. A giant with wings to go even higher. Thank you so very much for this tremendous honor.
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The 40th Coretta Scott King Award Ceremony was more than I hoped it would be. I shared the stage with some of my favorite artists and authors and was uplifted by librarians from across the country. I was especially excited to see a lot of familiar faces from the Brooklyn Public Library and the New York Public Library. New York represent! Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Here are a few pictures from the ceremony.
CSK Ceremony Water (that's Sean Qualls, this year's illustration honoree, sitting to the left of me)
Kadir Nelson (this year's author winner and illustrator honoree)
the point of it all
Once more pics are sent to me, I will post away. Now, off to bed, I’m wiped out. I’m looking forward to doing this again sometime! 
*For those who received postcards fom me at the conference, please excuse two things. First, the date of my award should read 2009, not 2008, and I used the wrong cover of Bird. I should have also included the EJK medal.