Hudson, Wade 1946–

views updated

Hudson, Wade 1946–

PERSONAL: Born October 23, 1946, in Mansfield, LA; son of Wade and Lurline (Jones) Hudson; married Cheryl Willis (a publisher and writer), June 24, 1972; children: Katura, Stephan. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: Attended Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1964–68. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Baptist.

ADDRESSES: Home—202 Dodd St., East Orange, NJ 07017. Office—Just Us Books, 356 Glenwood Ave., 3rd Floor, East Orange, NJ 07017.

CAREER: Just Us Books, East Orange, NJ, co-owner, 1987–. Multicultural Publishers Exchange, board member; Children's Defense Fund, board member of Langston Hughes Library; Imani Baptist Church, East Orange, NJ, deacon.

MEMBER: PEN America, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Authors Guild, Authors League of America, African American Publishers, Writers and Booksellers Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Stephen Crane Literary Award, 2001; inducted into Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, 2003.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN

(With Valerie Wilson Wesley) Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z: An Introduction to Important Black Achievers for Young Readers, illustrated by wife, Cheryl W. Hudson, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1988.

Afro-Bets Alphabet Rap Song, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1990.

Jamal's Busy Day, illustrated by George Ford, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1991.

Afro-Bets Kids: I'm Gonna Be!, illustrated by Culverson Blair, Just Us Books (East Orange Books), 1992.

(With Debbi Chocolate) NEATE: To the Rescue, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1992.

I Love My Family, illustrated by Cal Massey, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor) Pass It On: African-American Poetry for Children, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor, with Cheryl W. Hudson) How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Five Brave Explorers, illustrated by Ron Garnett, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Five Notable Inventors, illustrated by Ron Garnett, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

(Editor, with Cheryl W. Hudson) Kids' Book of Wisdom: Quotes from the African American Tradition, illustrated by Anna Rich, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1996.

(Editor, with Cheryl W. Hudson) In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers: A Black Family Treasury by Outstanding Authors and Artists, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1997.

Anthony's Big Surprise, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 1998.

Five Bold Freedom Fighters, illustrated by Ron Garnett, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

God Smiles When, illustrated by Cary Pillo, Abingdon Press (Nashville, TN), 2002.

God Gave Me, illustrated by Cary Pillo, Abingdon Press (Nashville, TN), 2003.

Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers, and Inventors, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 2003.

(Editor and author of introductions) Poetry from the Masters: The Pioneers, illustrated by Stephan H. Hudson, Just Us Books (East Orange, NJ), 2003.

(Editor and author of introductions) Powerful Words: More than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans, illustrated by Sean Qualls, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

The Two Tyrones, illustrated by Mark Page, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

The Underground Railroad, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of the children's book Beebe's Lonely Saturday, New Dimension Publishing, and the stage plays Freedom Star, Macmillan, "Sam Carter Belongs Here," "The Return," "A House Divided …," "Black Love Story," and "Dead End."

SIDELIGHTS: Wade Hudson's children's books present portraits of African-American family life and historical black figures. Hudson is committed to publishing positive books for a young black audience. His story Jamal's Busy Day was cited for its use of a clever conceit that draws parallels between the daily activities of a young boy, Jamal, and those of his accountant mother and architect father. Like them, he gets himself ready for his "work," takes a crowded bus, works with numbers, attends meetings, does drawings, and so on. "The upbeat message," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, "is that both parents and children can 'work hard' and accomplish much in their respective arenas: all have something to contribute and all work has value."

In 1988 Wade Hudson and Valerie Wilson Wesley collaborated on Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z: An Introduction to Important Black Achievers, which presents profiles of forty-nine black men and women who have achieved success in the face of adversity and have made important contributions to society. Although commenting that the "information is uneven," Afro-Bets was called by a Booklist critic "a useful item for black history collections." Included in the book are entries on such diverse people as Shaka, the Zulu king, to Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court justice, boxer Muhammad Ali, civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., and writer Zora Neal Hurston. Some reviewers noted that the work offers hard-to-find information on individuals such as sculptress Edmonia Lewis and educator Fanny Coppin, who are often overlooked in reference works.

Hudson and his wife, Cheryl W. Hudson, paid tribute to the African-American family with the collection In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers: A Black Family Treasury by Outstanding Authors and Artists. The anthology includes poetry, essays, paintings, photographs, interviews, and memoirs from nearly fifty artists and writers, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Candy Dawson Boyd, Brian Pinkney, and Walter Dean Myers. Hazel Rochman, reviewing In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers in Booklist, called it a "fine" book whose "tone is upbeat but neither sentimental nor nostalgic…. The design is clear and spacious, and the large-size volume will lend itself to sharing across generations at home, in the library, and at school." In addition, Rochman commented: "This collection may encourage young people to draw on their own family stories."

Horn Book critic Rudine Sims Bishop similarly believed the book could "appeal to readers across generations and across cultural boundaries as well." Bishop noted that "certain themes run through these pieces like ribbons woven through braided hair." A strong fatherly presence throughout the collection belies the stereotype of the fatherless black family; the strength of women too is celebrated in stories about mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts. "Even the black church is honored as a metaphorical mother," reported Bishop. "Shared values are also woven through these works, including an emphasis on creating and surrounding oneself with beauty; a high regard for education; the necessity to maintain a life of the spirit; and the need for familial and cultural continuity…. [The contributors] span at least three generations, and while their voices are varied, their works affirm the perseverance of those values across time and circumstances."

Hudson continued to compile overviews of the African-American experience as it has been perceived by others. Poetry from the Masters: The Pioneers includes selections from the work of eleven poets, male and female. The contributors were chosen by Hudson, according to School Library Journal reviewer Carol Jones Collins, because of the daunting odds they overcame to achieve recognition and respect. The book also includes Hudson's biographical sketches of the contributors, including discussions of the time in which they wrote and commentary on their contributions to the American literary canon.

Powerful Words: More than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans is another edited collection, in this case related to the struggle for personal freedom and equal rights. Like other collections, it includes Hudson's biographical profiles for each of the thirty-six featured writers, who represent a wide range of origins and accomplishments. Benjamin Banneker did his writing in the 1700s; Toni Morrison is a contemporary poet, and Lauryn Hill is a lyricist from the field of hip-hop music familiar to young readers. Stone Soup reviewer Celia Arguilez Smith, who is not herself African-American, urged: "Read this book! The powerful words will teach you how many African Americans struggled and achieved great things, making America better for all of us."

In all his books, Hudson hopes to fill a shortage in black-oriented children's books. Speaking of his Just Us Books publishing house to Claire Serant of Black Enterprise, Hudson stated: "There's an age-old belief in publishing that blacks don't read. But it's actually the mainstream market that hasn't devised a strategy to reach that audience." Hudson once told CA: "One can never take any image for granted. Images, whether in print, film, television, or on stage, are constantly shaping the way we feel and what we think and believe. This is particularly crucial to the African-American community, which has been deliberately given negative images of its history and culture. I find it rewarding to help reshape and change those negative images to reflect truth. I think the struggle to present the correct images, the truth, is the most crucial one facing us all."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Visions, December, 1991, Walter Dean Myers, review of Jamal's Busy Day, p. 30.

Black Enterprise, March, 1991, Claire Serant, "Bright Eyes, Brown Skin," p. 21; February, 1996, review of How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children, p. 243.

Black Issues Book Review, March-April, 2004, Jacqueline Jones LaMon, review of Poetry from the Masters: The Pioneers, p. 25; May-June, 2004, Suzanne Rust, "Learning as We Climb: Stories about the Civil Rights Movement for Young Readers," p. 58.

Booklist, January 1, 1989, review of Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z: An Introduction to Important Black Achievers for Young Readers and Jamal's Busy Day, p. 788; January 15, 1993, Hazel Rochman, review of Pass It On: African-American Poetry for Children, p. 899; March 15, 1993, Carolyn Phelan, review of I Love My Family, p. 1359; September 15, 1995, Julie Yates Walton, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 165; February 15, 1996, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 1006; February 15, 1997, review of Pass It On, p. 1014; April 1, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers: A Black Family Treasury by Outstanding Authors and Artists, p. 132; February 15, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers, and Inventors, p. 1080; February 15, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of Powerful Words: More than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans, p. 164.

Bookwatch, January, 1989, review of Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z, p. 7.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 252; November, 1995, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 93.

Children's Book Review Service, March, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 91; July, 1993, review of I Love My Family, p. 147.

Children's Bookwatch, December, 1998, review of Anthony's Big Surprise, p. 5; January, 2003, review of Book of Black Heroes, p. 4.

Christian Science Monitor, December 8, 1995, Karen Williams, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 10.

Come-Ye-All, fall, 1996, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 5.

Emerge, October, 1996, p. 26.

Essence, December, 1992, review of Jamal's Busy Day, p. 106; December, 1992, review of Afro-Bets Kids: I'm Gonna Be!, p. 108; February, 1994, review of Pass It On, p. 118; December, 2004, Kyissa Markland, review of Powerful Words, p. 214.

Horn Book, March-April, 1997, Rudine Sims Bishop, review of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers, p. 217.

Horn Book Guide, fall, 1993, reviews of I Love My Family, p. 261, and Pass It On, p. 369; spring, 1996, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 126; fall, 1997, review of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers, p. 373.

Instructor, November, 1994, review of Pass It On, p. 64.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 148; February 1, 2004, review of Powerful Words, p. 134.

Language Arts, December, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 679.

Library Media Connection, August-September, 2004, Lee Gordon, review of Powerful Words, p. 76.

Library Talk, March, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 25; May, 1994, review of I Love My Family, p. 43; September, 1994, review of I Love My Family, p. 11.

New Advocate, summer, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 213.

Publishers Weekly, December 6, 1991, review of Jamal's Busy Day, p. 71; November 30, 1992, review of Afro-Bets Kids, p. 54; January 18, 1993, review of Pass It On, p. 471; May 17, 1993, review of I Love My Family, p. 78; October 9, 1995, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 87; January 20, 1997, review of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers, p. 400; December 22, 2003, review of Powerful Words, p. 64.

Reading Teacher, October, 1993, review of Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z, p. 104; March, 1994, review of I Love My Family, p. 491.

School Library Journal, December, 1988, Sylvia V. Meisner, review of Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes from A to Z, p. 117; February, 1992, Helen E. Williams, review of Jamal's Busy Day, p. 74; April, 1993, Anna DeWind, review of I Love My Family, p. 97; May, 1993, Jane Marino, review of Pass It On, p. 99; July, 1993, Jane Marino, review of Afro-Bets Kids, p. 79; April, 1995, review of Pass It On, p. 44; November, 1995, Barbara Osborne Williams, review of How Sweet the Sound, p. 90; June, 1997, Carol Jones Collins, review of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers, p. 138; June, 1999, Krista Crosick, review of Anthony's Big Surprise, p. 130; February, 2004, Carol Jones Collins, review of Poetry from the Masters, p. 164, and Mary N. Oluonye, review of Powerful Words, p. 164; October, 2004, review of Powerful Words, p. S31; January, 2005, Augusta R. Malvagno, review of The Two Tyrones, p. 92.