Kansas City Star
ART PROFILE | Kadir Nelson’s ‘We Are the Ship’
Entertainment Weekly
WE ARE THE SHIP is on EW "THE MUST LIST: Things We Love"
KPBS "Local Hero" Award
Nelson is recognized as a "Local Hero" by KPBS San Diego for Black History Month.
The Press of Atlantic City
Award-winning artist uses talent to tell the Negro Leagues' story
WE ARE THE SHIP is a NYT Best-Seller!
New Jersey Herald News
Author illustrates courageous tales of black athletes...
WE ARE THE SHIP Art Exhibit Opens in KC.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Hosts Original Artwork from New Book, WE ARE THE SHIP.
Nelson wins Caldecott Honor
The American Library Assoc. awards HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX the 2008 Caldecott Honor.
NPR: "All Things Considered"
NPR Interview with Kadir Nelson: Michelle Norris interviews Nelson about WE ARE THE SHIP.
Wall Street Journal "Book Picks" Review
A new release for children celebrates the era of Negro Leagues Baseball
What the critics are saying:
“Nelson continues to top himself with each new book.†- Kirkus [starred review]
“... a sumptuous volume that no baseball fan should be without.†- Publishers Weekly [starred review]
“...an engaging tribute that should resonate with a wide audience and delight baseball fans of all ages.†- School Library Journal [starred review]
“[WE ARE THE SHIP] celebrates triumphing on one’s own terms and embracing adversity...†- Booklist [starred review]
“WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball†is the story of gifted athletes and determined owners; of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of black America in the first half of the twentieth century. But most of all, the story of the Negro Leagues is about hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do the one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball.
Using an "Everyman" player as his narrator, Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. The voice is so authentic, you will feel as if you are sitting on dusty bleachers listening intently to the memories of a man who has known the great ballplayers of that time and shared their experiences. But what makes this book so outstanding are the dozens of full-page and double-page oil paintings, breathtaking in their perspectives, rich in emotion, and created with understanding and affection for these lost heroes of our national game. WE ARE THE SHIP marks Nelson’s debut as both author and illustrator.
KADIR NELSON began his artistic career in 1996 after four years of study at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Upon graduating, Nelson began working as a visual development artist at DreamWorks, contributing to the feature films “Amistad†and “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.†After leaving DreamWorks, Nelson began publishing his work and soon received commissions from major corporations and publications, providing handsome paintings for Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, The New York Times, Disney, Nike, and Major League Baseball, among others.
Nelson also exhibited his work in galleries and museums, both domestically and abroad, engaging the curiosity of visitors to the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Fort Wayne and Akron Art Museums, the Bristol Museum in England, and the Citizen’s Gallery in Yokohama, Japan. His work is now collected by numerous institutions and notable individuals including: The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, North Carolina Central University, Debbie Allen, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Will and Jada Smith, Berry Gordy, Sharon Stone, and Queen Latifah.
In 1999, Nelson began collaborating with several notable authors and has created several best-selling illustrated picture books which reviewers from The New York Times, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly have described as, “Transcendent,†“Powerful,†and “Elegant.†Currently, over a dozen picture books are in print, including Ntozake Shange’s “Ellington was not a Street,†a Coretta Scott King Award book, and Carole Boston Weatherford’s “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom,†which won a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Award, and an NAACP Image Award. At present, Nelson is busy at work on a picture book biography of Abraham Lincoln and government art commissions. “WE ARE THE SHIP,†marks Nelson’s debut as an author and an artist. Nelson lives in San Diego, CA with his wife and children.
KADIR NELSON began his artistic career in 1996 after four years of study at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Upon graduating, Nelson began working as a visual development artist at DreamWorks, contributing to the feature films “Amistad†and “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.†After leaving DreamWorks, Nelson began publishing his work and soon received commissions from major corporations and publications, providing handsome paintings for Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, The New York Times, Disney, Nike, and Major League Baseball, among others. Nelson also exhibited his work in galleries and museums, both domestically and abroad, engaging the curiosity of visitors to the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Fort Wayne and Akron Art Museums, the Bristol Museum in England, and the Citizen’s Gallery in Yokohama, Japan. His work is now collected by numerous institutions and notable individuals including: The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, North Carolina Central University, Debbie Allen, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Will and Jada Smith, Berry Gordy, Sharon Stone, and Queen Latifah.In 1999, Nelson began collaborating with several notable authors and has created several best-selling illustrated picture books which reviewers from The New York Times, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly have described as, “Transcendent,†“Powerful,†and “Elegant.†Currently, over a dozen picture books are in print, including Ntozake Shange’s “Ellington was not a Street,†a Coretta Scott King Award book, and Carole Boston Weatherford’s “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom,†which won a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Award, and an NAACP Image Award. At present, Nelson is busy at work on a picture book biography of Abraham Lincoln and government art commissions. “WE ARE THE SHIP,†marks Nelson’s debut as an author and an artist. Nelson lives in San Diego, CA with his wife and children.