Kadir Nelson - Click to see all titles by this author.

Kadir Nelson began drawing at the age of three, and painting at age ten. He was apprenticed by his uncle Michael Morris, an artist, and by his high school art teacher. Kadir won an art scholarship to study at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he graduated with honors. His professional career has included work for Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, National Geographic Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum, and Major League Baseball, among many other distinguished clients.

Many of his paintings are found in collections of notable institutions and museums, including the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as museums in England, Japan, and Mexico. His books have won numerous prestigious awards, including two Coretta Scott King illustrator awards, a Coretta Scott King author award, and three Caldecott Medals.

Kadir imparts, “My focus is to create images of people who demonstrate a sense of hope and nobility. I want to show the strength and integrity of the human being and the human spirit.”