Vera Williams

Early life and education Vera Baker was born January 28, 1927, in Hollywood, California. She has one sister, Naomi. As a child, her family moved to the Bronx, New York, where her father was frequently absent during her early childhood. In New York City, she danced, acted, and painted at the Bronx House, a local community center. Her book Scooter, published in 1993, is based on her childhood in the Bronx. Encouraged by their parents to explore the arts, she studied at the High School of Music & Art and participated in the 2007 PEN World Voices literary festival. She died on October 16, 2015. ==Philosophical and political views==

Williams long supported nonviolent and nuclear disarmament causes. She contributed artwork for several covers of Liberation magazine. In 1981 she spent a month in Alderson Federal Prison Camp following arrest at a women's peaceful blockade of the Pentagon. She served on the executive committee of the War Resisters League from 1984 to 1987. Asked about her arrest record, she responded:I don't make a point of ending up in jail, but if you try to put your hopes and beliefs for a better life into effect, arrest is sometimes a hazard. I am asked if I think any of his helps or works. I say, in the short run, we can't know, but many things we take for granted have been gained by the similar actions of people like myself: the end of child labor, more rights for black people, the vote for women, the end of the Vietnam War are a few. As a person who works for children, who raised three children...I have been able to say I did something to try to save our planet from destruction. It is my faith that we will. == Legacy ==

On May 4, 2019, the Vera's Story Garden at Ethelbert B. Crawford Library in Monticello, New York, was named a United for Libraries Literary Landmark in honor of Vera B. Williams. It was dedicated by the Empire State Center for the Book. Her original artwork is held in collections including the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. A book about Vera B. Williams by historian Mark Davenport is forthcoming as of January 2024. ==Works==

As author • ''It's a Gingerbread House'' (1978) • The Great Watermelon Birthday (1980) • Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe (1981) • A Chair for My Mother (1982) • Something Special for Me (1983) • Music, Music for Everyone (1984) • My Mother, Leah and George Sand (1986) • Cherries and Cherry Pits (1986) • ''Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea'' with Jennifer Williams (1988) • "More More More" Said the Baby (1990) • Scooter (1993) • Lucky Song (1997) • Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart (2001) • A Chair for Always (2009) • Home at Last with Chris Raschka (2016) As illustrator • Hooray For Me!, Remy Charlip (1975) • Long Walks and Intimate Talks, Grace Paley (1991) • Home: A Collaboration of Thirty Authors & Illustrators (1996) ==Awards==

• 1983: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Picture Book category, A Chair for My Mother • 1983: Caldecott Medal Honor Book, A Chair for My Mother • 1985: Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor Book, Music, Music for Everyone • 1991: Caldecott Medal Honor Book, "More More More" Said the Baby • 1994: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Fiction category, Scooter • 1998: Charlotte Zolotow Award, Lucky Song • 2002: Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor Book, Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart • 2008: Regina Medal of the Catholic Library Association; body of work • 2009: NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature == Exhibitions ==

• 1995: Family, Friends, and Community: The Art of Vera B. Williams, Library of Congress • 2024: Vera B. Williams / STORIES: Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Asheville, North Carolina, January 26 – May 11, 2024. ==See also==