Joy Takes Root

Gwendolyn Wallace graduated from Yale in 2021 and currently works for the International African American Museum. A budding herbalist, her debut children's book Joy Takes Root was inspired by her own experiences gardening with her grandmother in South Carolina. Her next picture book, The Light She Feels Inside (Sourcebooks) will publish Fall 2023.    Ashleigh Corrin is a graphic designer by day, illustrator by night. Her talent comes from her late grandmother, who inspired Ashleigh to serve people's unique stories with creativity. With her illustrations, she hopes to contribute to good laughs, nostalgia, vulnerability, transparency, and seeing the light in ourselves and others.

PRAISE FOR JOY TAKES ROOT Black Caucus American Library Association Best of the Best 2023  "A quiet, thoughtful tale that promotes mindfulness, intentionality, gratitude, and connection." --Kirkus Reviews"Moving... a reap-what-you-sow telling that considers what’s been given and what’s yet to come." --Publishers Weekly"A beautiful ode to both the natural world and intergenerational cultural wisdom that imbues the sequential steps of planting a garden with a deeply felt spirituality." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books