Verna Wilkins

Verna Allette Wilkins, born in Grenada, is the founder of Tamarind Books, a publishing company she set up in 1987 to produce books with the aim of giving children of colour a sense of self and personal value. She went on to become the author of forty picture books and eight biographies of young people. Her books have featured on BBC Children's TV programmes and have been included on the National Curriculum for Schools. She has received many awards, among them the British Book Industry Decibel...See more

Verna Allette Wilkins, born in Grenada, is the founder of Tamarind Books, a publishing company she set up in 1987 to produce books with the aim of giving children of colour a sense of self and personal value. She went on to become the author of forty picture books and eight biographies of young people. Her books have featured on BBC Children's TV programmes and have been included on the National Curriculum for Schools. She has received many awards, among them the British Book Industry Decibel Award for Multicultural Publishing in 2008, and she has been honoured by Newman University Birmingham as a Doctor of Letters for her work as a "champion of Children's Literature". A moment that she has said will remain forever in her mind is when, during a school visit in the UK, a young black girl told her: "I always wanted to be an author, but didn't think I could be one until I met you today!" See less