A young Black girl and her grandmother face each other, surrounded by flowers.
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Ashleigh Corrin, Artwork for Joy Takes Root by Gwendolyn Wallace (Kokila). © 2023 Ashleigh Corrin.

Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books

Artists & Authors
Talks
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Auditorium

Free with Museum admission

Free for Museum Members

In this program, Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Faculty, Raphael Rogers, will share details about his latest book, Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books (2025). The book focuses on the wave of recently published picture books by Black women writers that push back against negative beliefs, counter negative stereotypes, and represent the beauty, joy, magic, and diversity of Black girls and their families. The book features the voices and perspectives of more than two dozen Black women writers. 

Two featured writers, Stephanie Seales and Gwendolyn Wallace, will join Raphael to discuss the representation of Black Girl Magic in their picture books. Stephanie is the writer of the 2025 Caldecott Honor Book My Daddy is a Cowboy, and Gwendolyn has published two picture books, Joy Takes Root (2023) and The Light She Feels Inside (2023). 

Book signing to follow program. Can’t make the event? You may reserve signed books online.

A black father places his daughter on top of a horse.

C.G. Esperanza, Artwork for My Daddy Is a Cowboy by Stephanie Seales (Abrams). © 2024 C.G. Esperanza.

Who You'll Meet
Author Stephanie Seales

Stephanie Seales

Stephanie Seales is the California-born daughter of Panamanian immigrants and a children’s literature expert. Her debut picture book, My Daddy Is a Cowboy (Abrams, 2024), illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, received a 2025 Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award, and six starred reviews. Stephanie is passionate about community, connection, and equity and understands the power of story, following Toni Morrison’s advice in writing the books she wants to read.

Author website
Author Gwendolyn Wallace

Gwendolyn Wallace

Gwendolyn Wallace is a multidisciplinary humanities scholar and award-winning children’s book author living in Boston. She is pursuing her PhD in MIT’s History, Anthropology, and Science & Technology Studies (HASTS) program. Gwendolyn is the author of picture books The Light She Feels Inside (2023), Joy Takes Root (2023) , and the forthcoming Dancing with Water and Imagine New Suns. She can usually be found gardening, biking, exploring used bookstores, or listening to the revolutionary impulses of young children.

Author website
Scholar Raphael Rogers

Raphael Rogers

Raphael Rogers is a professor at Clark University. He has a B.A. in History from Clark University, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Northeastern University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before joining the faculty at Clark, Rogers taught history in Newton, Amherst, and Springfield. He is the author of The Representation of Slavery in Children’s Picture Books: Teaching and Learning About Slavery in K-12 Classrooms (2018) and Representing Black Girl Magic with Contemporary Picture Books (2025).

Website