Fredrick L(emuel) McKissack (1939–) Biography

Born 1939, in Nashville, TN; Education: Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University (now Tennessee State University), B.S., 1964. Politics: "Independent." Religion: African Methodist Episcopal. Hobbies and other interests: Collecting antique model ships, gardening, spending time with pet cat, Kit.

Addresses

Office—All-Writing Services, 225 South Meramec, No. 206, Clayton, MO 63115.

Career

Worked as a civil engineer for city and federal governments, 1964–74; owner of a general contracting company in St. Louis, MO, 1974–82; writer, 1982–; co-owner with wife, Patricia, of All-Writing Services. Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1957–60.

Fredrick and Patricia McKissack

Member

National Writers Guild, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Honors Awards

C. S. Lewis Silver Medal award, Christian Educators Association, 1985, for Abram, Abram, Where Are We Going?; Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Coretta Scott King Award, both 1990, both for A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter; Woodson Outstanding Merit award, 1991, for W. E. B. Dubois; Coretta Scott King Award and Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, both 1993, both for Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?; Hungry Mind Award, 1993, for The World of 1492.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Black Hoops: The History of African Americans in Basketball, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

FOR CHILDREN; WITH WIFE, PATRICIA MCKISSACK

Look What You've Done Now, Moses, illustrated by Joe Boddy, David Cook, 1984.

Abram, Abram, Where Are We Going?, illustrated by Joe Boddy, David Cook, 1984.

Cinderella, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1985.

Country Mouse and City Mouse, illustrated by Anne Sikorski, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1985.

The Little Red Hen, illustrated by Dennis Hockerman, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1985.

The Three Bears, illustrated by Virginia Bala, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1985.

The Ugly Little Duck, illustrated by Peggy Perry Anderson, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1986.

When Do You Talk to God? Prayers for Small Children, illustrated by Gary Gumble, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1986.

King Midas and His Gold, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1986.

Frederick Douglass: The Black Lion, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1987.

A Real Winner, illustrated by Quentin Thompson and Ken Jones, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

The King's New Clothes, illustrated by Gwen Connelly, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1987.

Tall Phil and Small Bill, illustrated by Kathy Mitter, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

Three Billy Goats Gruff, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1987.

My Bible ABC Book, illustrated by Reed Merrill, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1987.

The Civil Rights Movement in America from 1865 to the Present, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1987, second edition, 1991.

All Paths Lead to Bethlehem, illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1987.

Messy Bessey, illustrated by Richard Hackney, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1987.

The Big Bug Book of Counting, illustrated by Bartholomew, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

The Big Bug Book of Opposites, illustrated by Bartholomew, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

The Big Bug Book of Places to Go, illustrated by Bartholomew, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

The Big Bug Book of the Alphabet, illustrated by Bartholomew, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

The Big Bug Book of Things to Do, illustrated by Bartholomew, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1987.

Bugs!, illustrated by Martin, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1988.

The Children's ABC Christmas, illustrated by Kathy Rogers, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1988.

Constance Stumbles, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1988.

Oh, Happy, Happy Day! A Child's Easter in Story, Song, and Prayer, illustrated by Elizabeth Swisher, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.

God Made Something Wonderful, illustrated by Ching, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.

Messy Bessey's Closet, illustrated by Richard Hackney, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1989.

James Weldon Johnson: "Lift Every Voice and Sing," Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1990.

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter, Walker (New York, NY), 1990.

Taking a Stand against Racism and Racial Discrimination, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1990.

W. E. B. DuBois, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1990.

The Story of Booker T. Washington, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1991.

Messy Bessey's Garden, illustrated by Martin, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1991.

From Heaven Above, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.

Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1992.

God Makes All Things New, illustrated by Ching, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

African-American Inventors, Millbrook (Brookfield, CT), 1994.

African-American Scientists, Millbrook (Brookfield, CT), 1994.

African Americans, illustrated by Michael McBride, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1994.

Sports, Millikin (St. Louis, MO), 1994.

Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa, Holt (New York, NY), 1994.

Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters, illustrated by John Thompson, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, Walker (New York, NY), 1995.

Rebels against Slavery: American Slave Revolts, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

Let My People Go: Bible Stories of Faith, Hope, and Love, as Told by Price Jefferies, a Free Man of Color, to His Daughter, Charlotte, in Charleston, South Carolina, 1806–1816, illustrated by James Ransome, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1998.

Young, Black, and Determined: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1998.

Messy Bessey and the Birthday Overnight, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.

Messy Bessey's School Desk, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.

Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Messy Bessey's Holidays, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1999.

Messy Bessey's Family Reunion, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 2000.

Miami Gets It Straight, illustrated by Michael Chesworth, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Bugs!, illustrated by Michael Cressy, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Messy Bessey's Closet, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Miami Makes the Play, illustrated by Michael Chesworth, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Miami Sees It Through, illustrated by Michael Chesworth, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Messy Bessey's Garden, illustrated by Dana Regan, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

(Adaptors) Itching and Twitching: A Nigerian Folktale, illustrated by Laura Freeman, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

Hard Labor: The First African Americans, 1619, illustrated by Joseph Daniel Fiedler, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

FOR CHILDREN; "GREAT AFRICAN AMERICANS" SERIES; WITH WIFE, PATRICIA MCKISSACK

Carter G. Woodson: The Father of Black History, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2002.

Frederick Douglass: Leader against Slavery, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2002.

George Washington Carver: The Peanut Scientist, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2002.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett: A Voice against Violence, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2001.

Louis Armstrong: Jazz Musician, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2001.

Marian Anderson: A Great Singer, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2001.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2001.

Mary Church Terrell: Leader for Equality, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2002.

Mary McLeod Bethune: A Great Teacher, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2001.

Ralph J. Bunche: Peacemaker, illustrated by Ned Ostendorf, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1991, revised edition, 2002.

Jesse Owens: Olympic Star, illustrated by Michael David Biegel, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2001.

Langston Hughes: Great American Poet, illustrated by Michael David Biegel, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2002.

Zora Neale Hurston: Writer and Storyteller, illustrated by Michael Bryant, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2002.

Satchel Paige: The Best Arm in Baseball, illustrated by Michael David Biegel, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2002.

Sojourner Truth: Voice for Freedom, illustrated by Michael Bryant, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2002.

Madam C. J. Walker: Self-made Millionaire, illustrated by Michael Bryant, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2001.

Paul Robeson: A Voice to Remember, illustrated by Michael David Biegel, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2001.

Booker T. Washington: Leader and Educator, illustrated by Michael Bryant, Enslow (Berkeley Heights, NJ), 1992, revised edition, 2001.

Also contributor, with Patricia McKissack, to The World of 1492, edited by Jean Fritz, Holt, 1992; coauthor, with P. McKissack, of "Start Up" series for beginning readers, four volumes, Children's Press, 1985; co-editor, with P. McKissack, of "Reading Well" series and "Big Bug Books" series, both for Milliken.

Sidelights

Fredrick L. McKissack is the author of over seventy books, primarily in collaboration with his wife, Patricia C. McKissack. The couple takes as their theme the history of African Americans and of race relations in the United States, often tracing the little-known byways of the past in labor relations, sports, politics, science, and the arts. In books such as the Enslow series "Great African Americans," and in stand-alone tiles such as African-American Inventors and Rebels against Slavery, McKissack and his wife paint a picture of men and women who have made a difference. In fiction titles such as Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters and Let My People Go, the McKissacks deal in a more dramatic manner with the history of slavery, while basic reading books such as the "Messy Bessey" series provide relevant experiences with which young African-American readers can identify.

McKissack was born on August 12, 1939, in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of architect Lewis Winter McKissack. After a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1957 to 1960, he returned to Tennessee and graduated with a B.S. from Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University in 1964; he married his childhood friend and sweetheart, Patricia, that same year. These were turbulent times in the South, with the civil rights movement transforming the segregationist culture. McKissack believed in the fight for changes and took part in sit-ins. "It was a time of violent change, it really was," McKissack once told Something about the Author (SATA). "Life actually changed. In a sense we climbed from the Old South to the New South. We went from segregated schools to integrated situations."

McKissack worked as a civil engineer for city and federal governments until 1974, and until 1982 he had his own general contracting company in St. Louis, Missouri, where the family made its home. McKissack's wife began publishing books for children in 1978, and soon McKissack was collaborating with her. In 1982 he became a full-time writer and the operator of All-Writing Services in partnership with his wife. From the beginning, the McKissacks had a clear direction for their writing. The dearth of books on African-American themes and topics was evident to Patricia McKissack, a junior high school English teacher who had to write her own book on the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in order to share the man's work with her students. There were too few writers telling the stories of blacks in politics, the arts, the military—in all walks of life. "The reason we write for children," McKissack once said, "is to tell them about these things and to get them to internalize the information, to feel just a little of the hurt, the tremendous amount of hurt and sadness that racism and discrimination cause—for all people, regardless of race."

Along with the biographies for primary grades in the "Great African Americans" series, many of which were revised and reprinted in 2001 and 2002, McKissack and his wife have also produced biographies for older readers. They employed material on Sojourner Truth to create a larger, more-detailed picture of the freed slave who campaigned tirelessly for the cause of abolition and women's rights in Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? Other popular stand-alone titles include a history of medieval Africa, The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, and American themes, African-American Inventors, Rebels against Slavery: American Slave Revolts, Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers, and Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States. Reviewing the first title in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Betsy Hearne called the book an "ambitious introductory survey" and "much needed to counter the persistent under-representation of African history in U.S. children's literature." Writing in School Library Journal, Susan Gifford commented that in The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay the "authors have attempted something unique with their inclusions of indigenous and contemporaneous historical accounts … as well as in their substantial use of oral history."

With their African-American Inventors, the McKissacks created an "attractive, well-organized entry," according to School Library Journal critic Margaret M. Hagel. The book provides an overview of nineteenth- and twentieth-century inventors, some of whom were born The prolific husband-and-wife team introduce readers to a noted black educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Booker T. Washington: Leader and Educator.slaves. Hagel concluded, "This title fills a real need; its readable text gives information not often found in books on inventions or on U.S. history." The husband-wife writing team turned their talents to slave revolts in Rebels against Slavery, in which they present "a fascinating cast," according to Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper. Among those they profile are Toussaint-L'Ouverture, who led a slave revolt in Haiti, Gabriel Prosser in Virginia, and Nat Turner. Elizabeth Bush noted in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that "the tone is generally moderate; heroic legend and verifiable facts are carefully distinguished throughout the text." Black Hands, White Sails focuses on the part African Americans played in the nation's whaling industry. Mary M. Burns, writing in Horn Book, considered the McKissacks' "incisive accounts … thoroughly documented." Days of Jubilee reveals to young readers that slavery did not end all at once, and goes through the historical events that helped make the practice illegal. Carolyn Phelan, writing in Booklist, considered Days of Jubilee to have "a balanced perspective, vivid telling, and well-chosen details" as well as "an immediacy that many history books lack."

McKissack has also turned his hand to solo nonfiction in 1999's Black Hoops: The History of African Americans in Basketball. This book is a follow-up to a joint effort with his wife on the Negro baseball leagues, 1994's Black Diamond. "Here he provides a concise but lively account of basketball from its earliest days to the present," according to Booklist contributor Chris Sherman.

The McKissacks have also collaborated on fiction that explores race and black history. In Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters they focus on one imaginary holiday in a Virginia Tidewater plantation in 1859. Two viewpoints are presented: that of the slaves in the quarters, and the slaveholders in the big house. Mary Harris Veeder wrote in Chicago's Tribune Books that "there is a careful attention to the way each group sees itself and its relationship to the other." Horn Book contributor Lois F. Anderson also commented on the coauthors' attention to particulars: "Hardly a detail is missed in this vivid description of a traditional Christmas on a Virginia plantation." Anderson went on conclude, "Use of authentic language of the time helps the narrative flow, and carefully documented notes illuminate the interesting text."

Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told by a Freeman of Color to His Daughter is the fictional re-creation of Charlotte Jeffries Coleman, an abolitionist. Charlotte recalls the Bible stories her father told her when she was a child growing up in South Carolina in the early nineteenth century. Incidents from the death of one slave or the escape of another occasion a story from the father to illuminate the message of such events for the young girl. Janice M. Del Negro, writing in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, commented on the father's language which "rolls with a surprising, fierce splendor
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that embodies the solid faith he passes on to his daughter." Del Negro further noted, "This is an unusual combination of history, commentary, and Bible story that will lend itself to a wide variety of uses within curriculums and collections." Rochman concluded in another Booklist article. "With the rhythm and intimacy of the oral tradition, this is storytelling for family and group sharing and also for talking about history and our connections with the universals of the Old Testament." And a reviewer for Publishers Weekly called Let My People Go a "stunning achievement." This same reviewer further commented, "Readers will likely return to this extraordinary volume again and again, knowing that the answers to life's painful questions reside in the stories of faith that have comforted others for thousands of years."

Additionally, the McKissacks have developed several reading programs for beginning readers, including "Start Up," "Reading Well," "Big Bug Books," and the "Miami" and "Messy Bessey" books. In the last series, they follow the small adventures of a young African-American girl who learns to tidy her room, garden, and her school desk, and who celebrates individual as well as national holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Reviewing Messy Bessey's School Desk for School Library Journal, Sharon R. Pearce noted the reader "covers a familiar topic in a friendly way." In this story, Bessey decides to clean the useless things out of her school desk, and in doing so inspires the rest of the class to straighten up their desks. Finally, her leadership is not only recognized but also rewarded when she is elected class president. Pearce further commented that "readers see a strong African-American character who is recognized for her organizational and communication skills." Other books for young readers feature Miami, who first appears in the school story Miami Gets It Straight and attends summer camp in Miami Makes the Play. Gillian Engberg, writing in Booklist noted that while the messages are somewhat heavy, they are balanced by "humor and authentic dialogue."

McKissack is a believer in the power of education and reaching students when they are young. That is why he and his wife concentrate their efforts toward younger readers. "You don't know who's going to be the puzzle part that you need," he once told SATA. "The solutions to all these problems are somewhere between kindergarten and Ph.D. I wonder who they are."