OFFICIAL BIO
AS SEEN IN
AWARDS/HONORS
CLIENT LIST
2016 CCBC Choices
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
​
2016 Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
​
2015 CCBC Choice
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen
​
2015 CCBC Charlotte Zolotow Award
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen
​
2015 Bank Street College of Education Best Books
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen
​
2015 WSRA Picture This! Selection
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen
​
2015 Delaware Diamonds
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen
2014 Best Cover Award for Highlights’ Hello Magazine
2014 Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
2014 The Jane Addams Peace for Children’s Books Honor We Shall Overcome
2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
We Shall Overcome
​
2013 Bank Street College of Ed Best Kid's Book of the Year
We Shall Overcome
2013 Bank Street College of Ed Best Kid's Book of the Year
Every Little Thing
Aladdin Books
American Girl
Bloomsbury
Blue Apple Books
Book Apple
Charlesbridge
Chronicle
Cricket Magazine
​
Focus on the Family
Harcout Children’s Books
Hallmark
Houghton Mifflin Harcout
​
Hyperion
Lee & Low
National Geographic
Penguin Books
Scholastic
​
Simon and Schuster
​
Tricycle Press
​
Vanessa Brantley Newton was born during the Civil Rights movement, and attended school in Newark, NJ. She was part of a diverse, tight-knit community and learned the importance of acceptance and empowerment at early age.
Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was the first time she saw herself in a children’s book. It was a defining moment in her life, and has made her into the artist she is today. As an illustrator, Vanessa includes children of all ethnic backgrounds in her stories and artwork. She wants all children to see their unique experiences reflected in the books they read, so they can feel the same sense of empowerment and recognition she experienced as a young reader.
​
Vanessa celebrates self-love and acceptance of all cultures through her work, and hopes to inspire young
readers to find their own voices. She first learned to express herself as a little girl through song. Growing up in a musical family, Vanessa’s parents taught her how to sing to help overcome her stuttering. Each night the family would gather to make music together, with her mom on piano, her dad on guitar, and Vanessa and her sister, Coy, singing the blues, gospel, spirituals, and jazz. Now whenever she illustrates, music fills the air and finds its way into her art.
The children she draws can be seen dancing, wiggling, and moving freely across the page in an expression of happiness. Music is a constant celebration, no matter the occasion, and Vanessa hopes her illustrations bring joy to others, with the same magic of a beautiful melody.