Shadra Strickland studied, design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and later went on to complete her M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009 for her work in her first picturebook, Bird, written by Zetta Elliott. Strickland co-illustrated Our Children Can Soar, winner of a 2010 NAACP Image Award. She has published with Lee and Low Books, Simon and Schuster, Random House, Candlewick, Chronicle Books, and Little Brown. Her books have received recognition from the American Library Association, Junior Library Guild, and other prominent literary organizations. Shadra currently teaches illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. Her online picture book course, The Art of the Picturebook is available at Craftsy.com.
Clients
Lee and Low Books, BloomsburyUSA, Random House Books for Children, Candlewick, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Scholastic, Chronicle Books, The New York Times, Washington Post, Osmo, Netflix
Awards
2011 Ashley Bryan Children’s Literature Award, 2010 NAACP Image Award, 2009 Ezra Jack Keats Award, 2009 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award, Junior Library Guild