Original Artwork and Poem to Honor Floyd Cooper Day
Bestselling author and poet Nikki Grimes has written an original poem to go along with a painting by Floyd Cooper, in honor of Floyd Cooper Day, May 8, 2025, celebrated each year during Children’s Book Week.
As a three-year-old, Floyd watched as his father worked on a house in Bixby, Oklahoma. He later recalled, “He built the house we lived in on a tract of land granted to the family of my Muskogee Creek Indian grandpa in part of that whole Native tribe relocation program known as The Trail of Tears.”
Award-winning author Tracey Baptiste has created a new website featuring all of Floyd’s books and a complete overview of Floyd’s life, work, and inspirations. You can also read about posters and videos created to celebrate Floyd Cooper’s books here.
Floyd Cooper, a celebrated children’s book illustrator who explored the African American experience in stories rooted in history, died on July 15, 2021, but his memory and legacy lives on. Over 30 years, he illustrated children’s stories that not only carried his earthy and golden pastel impressions of Black life, but that also strived to recount chapters of African American history that he felt weren’t taught enough in classrooms. He saw humanity in every subject, in people of all ages.
Floyd Cooper Day each May is sponsored by friends of Floyd Cooper, the Children’s Book Council, Every Child a Reader, The Brown Bookshelf, the Highlights Foundation, and The African American Children’s Book Project.
Check out more Diversity booklists and resources, and our Inclusivity Resources.
