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Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson - Headshot (Authors) 06-06-24_0022.jpg

Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson founded the independent children's publishing company, JUST US BOOKS in 1988.

Cheryl has authored more than 25 books for young children including: 

  • Bright Eyes, Brown Skin 

  • Many Colors of Mother Goose 

  • Come By Here Lord: Everyday Prayers for Children (Just Us Books) 

  • Good Morning, Baby (Scholastic)

  • Good Night, Baby (Scholastic)

  • From Where I Stand (Marimba Books)

  • Hands Can (Candlewick Press)

  • Construction Zone (Candlewick Press)  

  • My Friend Maya Loves to Dance (Abrams Books for Young Readers). 

  • When I Hear Spirituals, a picture book illustrated by London Ladd (Holiday House) has a January 7th 2025 pub date.

 

She and her husband Wade also edited

  • We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, 

  • Recognize! An Anthology Amplifying  Black Life, and 

  • The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, acclaimed anthologies and joint projects between Just Us Books and Crown Books/Random House)

  • Brave.Black. First. 50+ African-American Women Who Changed the World, an award winning middle grade nonfiction title (Crown Books) 

Author, publisher and entrepreneur, Cheryl Willis Hudson has more than four dozen years of experience in the children's book industry. A native of Portsmouth, Virginia, and a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio, Cheryl began her career doing text book design for publishers such as Houghton Mifflin and Macmillan.
 

Noticing a lack of quality Black-interest books for her own two children, in 1988, Cheryl and her husband Wade formed Just Us Books, Inc., a publishing company that specializes in children’s books that focus on Black experiences. Cheryl’s first book, AFRO-BETS ABC Book, was Just Us Books’ first published title.

    

Cheryl has received many honors in recognition of her contribution to children's literature, including the 2019 Children's Book Council's Diversity Award, 2019 Jane Addams Honor Book Award (for We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices), the 

Hurston-Wright Foundation's Madam C. J. Walker Award, and is an inductee of the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent.

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An active member of her community and publishing industry organizations, Cheryl has served on the advisory board of  the Langston Hughes Library at the Alex Haley Farm, operated by the Children’s Defense Fund and is a member of the Children's Book Committee of PEN America.

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