Brother Craft.
Yes, sir.
First off, shouts out to the tie.
I see what you're doing with the tie.
Yeah?
Got the little-- got some of them Black
Peanut characters on the tie. - Got Franklin.
Yeah.
I had to represent Franklin here.
[applause]
What did you read growing up?
I'm always interested about that with authors.
Like, what got you into the habit of reading?
Like, because I was assigned a lot of books in school
that I feel like I shouldn't have been reading.
It was like Beowulf, Call of the Wild, Tom--
just white people running errands.
JERRY CRAFT: And you didn't see yourself in that?
Well, I didn't.
No, I did not see myself in those books.
No, I went from Dr. Seuss to Marvel comics to nothing.
I hated to read.
Reading was a punishment for me.
And it's the same thing. I didn't see myself.
What am I going to read? Tom Sawyer?
Huck Finn?
Like, that wasn't me.
I mean, but Tom Sawyer had the N-word in it,
so representation.
Right.
So we got some representation.
It wasn't great representation, but we got representation.
So then if Marvel comics and comic books
activated your curiosity for literacy, what is it
about graphic novels that we can do to help
that with today's children?
The first thing I think we have to explain to some people
is the term graphic novel does not mean
a novel with graphic content.
And that-- you think that's not real,
but there are people that think that.
So they're like, I don't want my kid
to read a graphic novel.
It's a novel with graphic content.
And I'm like, no, that's not what it is.
So we might have to change the name to just
say, big, old comic book.
[laughter]
That might make it a little better.
I think with some of the education rates
in this country, that's probably a good idea, brother.
Right.
Now, this book that you have, School Trips,
wonderful, wonderful book.
It's about, you know, Black child
out there, doing his thing.
Right.
It's been banned in a bunch of places!
First off, congratulations on being banned.
Thank you.
[cheering]
Congratulations.
I know that must feel awful.
I know that it's a terrible feeling to write a book,
and then somebody go, oh, your book is too good.
We can't let nobody read it.
What was your thoughts and feelings when you
first found out about that?
I was disappointed.
I was sad for the kids because--
so this book-- this is my first book, New Kid.
It's the first graphic novel, the only graphic novel
ever to win the Newbery Medal.
All right?
[cheering]
It was the second book to win the Newbery
and the Coretta Scott King.
All right?
[applause]
And the only book ever to win those two
and the Kirkus Prize.
Right?
[cheering]
So not the only Black book, the only book.
Not the only Black book.
So then how do we get to that place?
How do we go from a book-- the same character in both books.
This is the third book with this character.
So the first book-- award, award, award.
Right.
This book, people go, CRT.
Right.
How is that classification even fair with the literature
that you've been creating?
Fair?
[laughs] You are funny, fair.
[laughter]
I mean, like, that's the point of it, you know?
It's like from a kid who hated to read and was told that
comics would rot his brain, to grow up-- born in Harlem,
grew up in Washington Heights, and to have this book,
which should be an after-school special-- my life should
be the after-school special--
a reluctant reader who grows up to--
I mean, there's a movie in the works with this book.
OK?
[cheering]
Do you have a--
do you have a producing partner?
I know how to read.
I like reading.
I do.
ROY WOOD, JR.: Get money, then we'll talk
about that after the show. - Yeah, OK.
But, like, 13 different languages, so they can read it
in Albanian, Romanian, Greek.
They just can't read it in Texas.
Oof.
Now, the book is about--
this book School Trip is about some kids who decide
to travel over to France.
And they take a school trip.
Now, as a product of Birmingham Public Schools,
I could not relate to traveling out
of the country at any point.
There was no international field trips.
Like, in Alabama, you go two, three places.
You go to the civil rights.
JERRY CRAFT: Right.
They take you down to Montgomery
to see where they don't pass laws that help civil rights.
Right.
And then they let you visit a cave.
- Right. - That's it, Desoto Cave.
It's a nice cave.
[laughter]
But where have you traveled?
Like, because to be able to write about children traveling
beyond the horizon, what were your travels like
and your journeys as a child?
As a child, it was all local stuff
that my dad and I used to go.
When I graduated from college, which I know
you're trying to ban, but--
[laughter]
For those of you--
it was--
We just need a buy one, get one free coupon.
- Right. - We just need something.
No, it was good for me.
So when I graduated from college,
my dad took me to the Bahamas.
And he's 70 years old, his first time on a plane, right?
Because we didn't think that we could travel, right?
And then we went every year to different places for 20 years.
When my sons graduated from college, I took them to Paris.
Because, again, you don't think that you can do those
things, right?
And so I make the books that I wish
that I had when I was a kid that makes kids
readers, that gives them hope.
Because you don't even know the things that you can hope
for, right?
And that's--
[applause]
So I read a review online.
They tell me not to read reviews, but I did anyway.
And this woman literally wrote, I'm
not sure if my largely poor, largely
African-American students will be
able to relate to this book.
So I'm like, but a kid-- you're saying a kid
can relate to a kid who goes to wizard school,
flies on a broom, and waves a wand.
But you can't picture these Black kids going to Paris.
So you're not going to let them see the book.
That's worse than being banned.
How do we get people also to understand?
Because, to me, the issue with CRT as well,
I think it's been twisted into this idea
that these are Black authors writing about Black
stuff specifically for Black people.
How do we get people to also understand that these books
are for everyone to read?
JERRY CRAFT: Right.
It's not about--
[applause]
--some sort of colored-only section on a bookshelf.
These books are about the human experience.
So how will we be able to get more
people to understand that?
There is a kid--
I just saw this on TikTok.
So it's a ninth grader, right-- a nine-year-old third grader
in Escambia County, Florida goes
up in front of a school board.
He should be home playing Xbox, right?
In front of a school board, talking about this book,
he says, this book was a good reminder
that we are all equal.
And we should treat people with kindness and respect.
Because you never know what someone is going through.
[applause]
Thank you for everything that you do.
Jerry Craft, we appreciate you, brother.
[cheering]
The book is School Trip.
It's available now.