Famed Author-Illustrator Team Visits Brunswick

A celebrated husband-and-wife literary team gave Lower and Middle School boys a peek into creative life while also offering some timely messages about Martin Luther King Jr.
 
Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney zoomed into Brunswick on Friday, Jan. 22, for morning visits with Lower and Middle Schoolers.
 
Andrea Davis Pinkney is a New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author renowned for bringing stories of African-American culture to young audiences.
 
Brian Pinkney is likewise acclaimed, an American illustrator and author who brings his playful, powerful artwork to his award-winning books for children.
 
The two shared insight into the day-to-day creative life of their family; one is an early-riser who carries a notebook most everywhere she goes, the other a night owl who enjoys a home art studio and works when everyone else is asleep.
 
“If you get a great idea, write it down!” Andrea Pinkney told the boys.

“It always starts with a white piece of paper!” said Brian Pinkney. “I let the paint speak to me. I discover something just by painting!”
 
The Pinkneys also collaborate on books, especially about the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. 

The couple discussed two of their books: Martin Rising, Requiem for a King and Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, which details the non-violent, historic stand against segregation taken by students at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., on Feb. 1, 1960. Andrea Pinkney told the boys that it was words that roused the students to that courageous act.
      
“You must meet hate with love.”
 
“Those are the words of Martin Luther King that inspired these students!” Pinkney said, while also asking them to consider what they would do if they encountered a restaurant where people were refused a meal solely because of the color of their skin, or if they were subjected to the abuse these students endured when they challenged segregation.
 
“Answer quietly in your heart,” Pinkney asked the younger boys. “What would you do?”
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Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

  • Upper School
    100 Maher Avenue
    Office: 203.625.5856

    Lower School
    1252 King Street
    Office: 203.485.3670
  • Middle School
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    Office: 203.242.1202

    Pre School
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    Office: 203.485.3652

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