An Interview With Little Leaders Author Vashti Harrison

 The B&N Kids blog sat down with Vashti Harrison, the author and illustrator of this book of trailblazers. An artist and storyteller, Harrison talks about how the book began as a personal project and turned into this elegant collection. She also lets us peek in on her design process and shares the amazing connections she discovered in her research as well as the books that inspired her as a young reader.

What inspired you to write Little Leaders?
I began this project merely as a drawing challenge for myself: I wanted to draw one woman every day for the month of February to celebrate Black History Month. I felt inspired to highlight the stories we don’t hear too often and to celebrate contributions black women have made to American history.  I didn’t expect when I started this project how deeply connected I would feel to the women, so I was inspired to dive deeper and share their stories with others in a book format.

Can you explain your research process?
I began simply. A few great starting places for me were online resources like Biography.com and Encyclopedia Britannica. I love documentaries, so I watched a lot of PBS specials like the “American Masters” series. This helped create an overview or snapshot of who these women were in the public eye.  But when I was writing the first few bios back in February 2017, I truly had an emotional connection to the stories. I was really inspired to capture that in all of them so I looked to as many autobiographies as possible to really tap into a personal connection to the women.

Was there a particular woman whose story touched you most deeply?
I felt particularly connected to Augusta Savage’s biography. Hers is truly a love story to her craft. She loved making art so much, even when her family forbade it and even though it meant a difficult life, she persisted. She struggled with finances and racism consistently through her career, but she somehow found a way. What’s more, is that she was a natural teacher and believed that her struggles were paving a way for more and better artists and that her legacy could live on in their success. I love that. I wish I could thank her.

How did you create your portraits of these amazing leaders?
I worked digitally in Photoshop with a specific set of brushes meant to replicate gouache, watercolor, and pencils. I kept the figure simple—just a few lines make up her face. In my mind, she is a just a little girl—an every girl—defined by her sweetness and innocence. This allowed me to put a lot of fun details in the hair and clothes. In a way, I wanted them to feel like costumes and interchangeable so that readers might be able to see themselves in any one of them.

You’ve worked in other mediums like film and animation; how does this book fit into your body of work as an artist?
Although my art takes form in different media, I think as a creator, I’ve always been interested in storytelling first and foremost. I am a firm believer that not every story needs to be told in a single medium. I’m interested in using the right tools to help translate the story most effectively. I get inspired by a lot of things and love to try out different tools. This on the outside may make it look like my work is quite disjointed, but it all comes from the same place. For me the connecting thread is my love for beautiful stories, strong structure, and elegant layouts.

Can you highlight some books for young readers to find if they want to learn more about these inspiring little leaders?
Here are a few great compendiums I checked out from the library when researching: Little Leaders: Black Women Scientists in the United States by Wini Warren, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, and Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 by Lynne Olson.

Little Leaders is on B&N bookshelves now.