Kelly Starling Lyons

Kelly Starling Lyons (kellystarlinglyons.com) is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, a teaching artist, and an award-winning children’s book author. Her mission is to center Black heroes, celebrate family, friendship, and heritage, and show all kids the stories they hold inside. Many of her books have won accolades, including a Caldecott Honor for Going Down Home with Daddy, a Geisel Honor for Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom, a Christopher Award for Tiara’s Hat Parade, and a Bank Street Best list for Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations. She’s the author of more than two dozen titles for young readers, including She Persisted: Coretta Scott King and the popular Jada Jones series. You can follow her on Twitter @kelstarly.