Frank Morrison
Frank Morrison started his journey as a graffiti artist in New Jersey, tagging walls with spray paint. It wasn’t until he visited the Louvre Museum in Paris with his dancing group, that he realized painting was his true creative path. His work has been featured at Art Basel, Scope Miami and Red Dot art fairs, and shown at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Mason Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta, GA. He is the illustrator of over 20 children’s books, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winners Standing in the Need of Prayer and R-E-S-P-E-C-T, the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner Jazzy Miz Mozetta, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor books, Little Melba and her Big Trombone and Let the Children March. Frank was a Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Silver Medal Honoree two years in a row, for The Roots of Rap and R-E-S-P-E-C-T. His debut author-illustrated picture book is Kick Push.
Awards / Honors
- 2024 Starred Reviews (Kirkus, Booklist) – When Alexander Graced the Table
- 2024 Bank Street Best of the Year – Breaking to the Beat!, How Do You Spell Unfair?
- 2024 Black Caucus ALA Best of the Best List 2023 – How Do You Spell Unfair and Harlem at Four
- 2023 Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award – How Do You Spell Unfair?
- 2023 Kirkus Best of 2023 – Breaking to the Beat!, How Do You Spell Unfair?
- 2023 Starred Reviews (Hornbook, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal) – Breaking to the Beat!
- 2023 Globe/Hornbook Award Honor Book – Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2023 Starred Review (School Library Journal) Harlem at Four
- 2023 Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year- Uncle John’s City Garden
- 2023 Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year –Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award – Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2023 ALSC Notable Children’s Book – Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2022 Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book – Uncle John’s City Garden
- 2022 Kirkus Best Picture Books of the Year – Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2022 Chicago Public Library Best Books of the Year – Kick Push
- 2022 Society of Illustrators Original Art – Standing in the Need of Prayer
- 2022 Society of Illustrators Original Art – Kick Push
- 2022 American Illustration 41
- 2022 4 Starred Reviews (Kirkus, SLJ, Hornbook, Booklist) – Standing in the Need of a Prayer
- 2021 Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Award- R-E-S-P-E-C-T
- 2019 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor – Let the Children March
- 2015 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2005 Coretta Scott King, John Steptoe Award, New Talent – Jazzy Miz Mozetta
- 2020 Society of Illustrators Original Art, Silver Medal – R-E-S-P-E-C-T
- 2019 Society of Illustrators Original Art, Silver Medal – The Roots of Rap
- 2019 Golden Kite Honor Book- The Roots of Rap
- 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
- 2018 National Book Award Nominee – Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
- 2022 California Young Reader Medal Nominee – Let the Children March
- 2022 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award – Above the Rim
- 2022 Virginia Reading Makes Cents Program – The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver
- 2022 TLA Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List- Above the Rim
- 2020 SLJ Best Nonfiction Books – R-E-S-P-E-C-T
- 2019 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 – Starstruck
- 2019 Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best List- The Roots of Rap
- 2019 New York Public Library’s Best Books of the Year- The Roots of Rap
- 2019 Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year- I Got the Christmas Spirit & Let the Children March & Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil deGrasse Tyson
- 2019 Georgia Center for the Book’s Books All Georgians Should Read – The Roots of Rap
- 2019 Booklist’s Top 10 Art Books for Youths – The Roots of Rap
- 2018 Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year- One Last Word & Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
- 2017 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books – Clayton Byrd Goes Underground and One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
- 2017 NYPL’s Best Books for Kids – One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
- 2017 Bank Street’s Best Children Books of the Year – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- 2017 CCBC Choices – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- 2017 CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- 2016 Junior Library Guild Selection – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- 2016-17 Nominated for North Carolina’s Children’s Book Award – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- 2016 Bold and Fearless’s 28 Books Every Black Girl Should Read This Black History Month – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- Amazon’s Best Books of the Month: Ages 6-8 for February – The Quickest Kid in Clarksville
- NYC Reads 365 Recommended Reading List for Grade 4 – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 NAACP Image Award Nomination, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 CCBC Choice – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 CL/R SIG Notable Book for a Global Society – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 Bank Street College of Education, Best Books of the Year – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 Bank Street College of Education, Best Books of the Year – I Got the Rhythm
- 2015 Anti-Defamation League’s February Book of the Month – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2015 Books All Georgians Should Read – I Got the Rhythm
- 2014 CSMCL Best Multicultural Books – Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
- 2012-1013 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee – Play,Louis,Play
- USA Today 4.5 star review of Stars in the Shadows
- 2010 NAACP Image Award for Our Children can Soar
