Nelson, Kadir (1974-…), is an African American illustrator and author of children’s books. He gained recognition for his expressive, colorful, detailed artwork that illuminates stories from modern Black life, as well as Black history and culture. Nelson has won a number of Coretta Scott King Awards, both as an illustrator and an author. These awards annually honor African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books that portray the Black experience for young readers. As the illustrator of The Undefeated (2019), written by the poet Kwame Alexander, Nelson received both the 2020 Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and the 2020 Caldecott Medal. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually for the most distinguished picture book for children published in the United States.
As an illustrator, Nelson won the 2005 King award for Ellington Was Not a Street (2004), written by the poet Ntozake Shange. He won the 2007 award for Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (2006), written by the children’s author Carole Boston Weatherford. He received the author award in 2009 for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (2008) and in 2012 for Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (2011). Nelson also illustrated both books.
Nelson also wrote and illustrated the picture book Baby Bear (2014). His other notable books as an illustrator include Just the Two of Us (2001), written by the actor Will Smith; Under the Christmas Tree (2002), written by the poet and children’s author Nikki Grimes; Please, Baby, Please (2002), written by the motion picture director Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya; Thunder Rose (2003), written by the children’s author Jerdine Nolen; and Dancing in the Wings (2003), written by the actress and dancer Debbie Allen.
Nelson was born on May 15, 1974, in Washington, D.C. He received a degree in art from the Pratt Institute in New York City in 1996. Nelson illustrated his first book, Brothers of the Knight, in 1999. Nelson is also a successful commercial artist and has exhibited his oil paintings in galleries and museums in the United States, England, Japan, and Mexico.
