Nikki Giovanni

(Children’s Defense Fund) – When poet, essayist, scholar and activist Nikki Giovanni passed away on Dec. 9, the world lost a singular voice. Young readers especially adored the dozen books she created for children, including beloved works like the Caldecott Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Award-winning Rosa, illustrated by Bryan Collier.Related Stories In a 2022 interview with The Washington Post, when asked what she believed the role of children’s literature was, she answered, “Children’s literature is the foundation of the rest of the literature that we do.” She went on, “If children are hearing words and hearing poems and hearing stories as they grow up, they one, get used to it, but two, they use their imagination. They begin to wonder, well, where do I fit in that? And that’s why it’s so important to have children’s stories of all of the children – not any one child, but all of the children, from all over the planet.” For decades, Giovanni’s voice allowed readers and listeners to recognize their own stories and helped them see where they too might fit in.In 1999, Children’s Defense Fund was grateful when she joined then-first lady Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Health and Human...