Imprint Profile: Denene Millner Books
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
The CBC is excited to launch Imprint Profiles, where we shine a light on eponymous imprints dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in the books they publish. Below, the CBC asks Denene Millner, Editorial Director and Publisher, questions about the imprint.
How did your imprint start out?
Denene Millner Books was born in 2016 at Agate Publishing, in partnership with publisher Doug Seibold, who invited me to start the imprint after we both showed up to a dinner meeting with the same idea: to start a Black children’s book imprint. At the time, I had a popular Black parenting website and was doing a lot of national television work as a parenting expert, so I had a natural audience that was hungry for these books. Doug recognized that and together, we created Denene Millner Books.
The imprint launched its first books in 2017, among them was Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, a glorious book about how Black boys feel in the barbershop chair, penned by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James. That book went on to win some major children’s book awards, including Caldecott and Newbery honors. The success and impetus of the imprint also caught the eye of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and by 2019, I switched the imprint over to S&S, where I could draw bigger advances, stronger marketing and publicity support and a children’s book industry infrastructure that helped open the door for more Black authors and illustrators who may have had a hard time getting into and navigating what can be an insular industry.
What is your imprint most known for?
Denene Millner Books is best known for its celebration of the everyday humanity of Black children and families. When I conceived the imprint back in 2016, I had two missions: to open the publishing doors to Black authors and illustrators looking to create children’s books, and to publish stories that stretched beyond what, then, seemed to be the typical fare hitting bookshelves.
When my children were babies (they are full adults now!), finding books with Black characters seemed to be limited to stories about Black firsts, famous Black people, slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement. Of course, there were some great offerings that I managed to get my hands on; Debbie Allen’s Dancing in the Wings, Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach, Nikki Giovanni’s The Sun is So Quiet, and bell hooks’ Home Made Love were and remain forever favs. But for a mother who writes for a living and wanted to raise readers, it really was very hard to get one’s hands on new Black books written and illustrated by Black authors that stretched beyond history, sports, and politics. I wanted my kids to see their full selves in the pages of books living on our bookshelves—stories about keeping imaginary friends, riding the school bus for the first time, losing a tooth and waiting for the tooth fairy, dancing with abandon and being… happy. These things, these joyful, beautiful moments filled with wonder, are the stories you’ll find on the Denene Millner Books list.
How many books does your house aim to publish per season/year?
I typically do three books per season, sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s all a matter of timing and how the production schedule shakes out.
Which genres or formats does your imprint prefer to publish?
I really do love all formats, but my absolute favorite is picture books. I am a huge art fan and collector, and it brings me joy to watch the double storytelling of picture books come to life—via the words and the illustrations. Seeing the illustrations take shape and bring the words to life is exciting and wondrous to me. A miracle. I just love the process and the outcome. And then to know that these books will bring joy to children—woo! It doesn’t get better than this!
What are some of your imprint’s publishing priorities over the next few years?
The mission I started with is the same mission I hold today: to create books celebrating the everyday humanity of Black children and families into the hands of all children. In a climate where books are being pulled out of entire library systems for having a Black face on the cover, it’s more important than ever to publish these stories and get them into the hands of children who need to see themselves on the page, and other children who need to see the humanity in Black and Brown children. I will never waver from this mode of thinking, and I’m grateful to be in partnership with a publisher that feels the same.
Which title have you recently rallied behind?
All my titles have my full attention, love, and support. In addition to the support from our incredible publicity and marketing team at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, DMB has a dedicated publicist, Audra Boltion-Ortiz, who is full of incredible ideas and energy that she brings to every project. We work hand-in-hand, dreaming up ideas that mold to the subject matter of each of the books and executing them as much as we can to bring attention to these projects that the entire team has worked so hard to bring to bookshelves.
That work never stops; well after the books publish, we are still working to see where the titles fit into big ideas, whether it’s pitching them as part of a larger theme, or creating materials (coloring pages, bookmarks, worksheets) that celebrate those themes, and even creating events that speak to the subjects covered in the books. One great example of this was a series of tea parties Audra dreamed up and organized to celebrate the release of celebrity chef Carla Hall’s latest children’s picture book, Carla and the Tin Can Cake Party. The book is about a young Carla planning an impromptu tea party that goes awry until her grandmother shows her how to make a party filled with love. Carl dressed up in fabulous tea party attire and read her book to a series of audiences throughout the north and southeast, creating a fun experience for young readers.
Which title do you feel deserved more love than it got?
I really loved Rio Cortez’ The Blue Velvet Chair. The story is about a little girl who experiences change by looking out the window, perched on her favorite blue velvet chair. From the chair, she watches the seasons change and notes all the ways the world changes along with them. Aaron Marin, then a first-time children’s book illustrator, did such a wonderful job creating these magical illustrations that gave the book an Ezra Jack Keats feel, and Rio, an award-winning poet, really brought her special brand of poetry to the pages. It’s a delightful story that is still finding its audience; the second folks read it, they understand how special it really is.
The same holds true for At Night, They Danced, by Victoria Scott-Miller. This picture book is about a couple who has their weekly date night at home after the babysitter cancels, and the sweet way their children get to experience their parents’ love, live and in technicolor. I think it’s a wonderful thing to see Black people in love, to see Black families expressing their love for one another, to see Black parents showing their children what love looks like. This book brought that in spades, but it just hasn’t found its audience yet.
Which upcoming titles are you buzzing about?
Oh goodness, I have so many incredible titles coming out this year, three of them in March alone!
Be on the lookout for:
- The Other Side of the Garden, by Sili Recio and Elena Djome Lawrence; illus. by Brianna McCarthy, and The Toy Plane, written and illustrated by Cherise Harris. Both titles explore the big feelings that come when a grandparent passes, and all the ways children embrace memories to cope with the loss
- Pecosita, written by Aliya King Neal and her husband, Shane Neal; illus. by Eric Velasquez, about a little Black girl’s love for her freckles.
- Daisy Helps with the Dress, by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovitch; illus. by Charis Jackson-Barrios, which celebrates a family’s love for recycling and putting that love to use as they create a wedding dress for a beloved family member.
- The Umbrella, the first author/illustrator book by Sylvia Walker, is about a little Black girl who finds a magical umbrella at the park that helps her make friends and build community.
- Here Comes the Band, by the spectacular Shadra Strickland-penned a gorgeous, energetic, loud homage to the bold, rhythmic tradition of HBCU bands! It’s illustrated by the fine artist John Holyfield, who brings to this read-aloud every aspect of the majesty, grace, and funk of an HBCU halftime.
- Day Shift, Night Shift, written by Ariel Vaniece; illus. by Jade Orlando, about a little train enthusiast who teams up with her railroad mechanic grandfather to figure out a problem with her toy train.
- The Uncles, by Tunisia Williams; illus. by Lance Evans, a big-hearted book about a group of uncles who help their nephew deal with the big feelings he has over the death of his father.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a school library or public library?
ALL OF THEM would be great for school and public libraries. These are books that help children deal with grief, that boost children’s self-esteem, that promote family gathering and working together, and that honor and highlight Black culture in ways rarely seen in children’s picture books. Each one of these books needs to be in the hands of children, caregivers, teachers, educators, and anyone who loves and cares about kids.
Which of your frontlist titles would be great for a classroom? Which grade?
I could see The Toy Place, The Other Side of the Garden, and The Uncles working together as a collection to help children understand grief and all the ways they can access their feelings to deal with loss. And Day Shift, Night Shift has a really awesome S.T.E.M. component to it, as the main character uses science and math to figure out how to make her toy train climb a hill.
Which of your frontlist titles would you like to see get more attention from bookstores?
Again, each one of these titles is gorgeous, unique, and lovely and deserves attention in bookstores.
Name a few of your favorite backlist titles that people should check out.
I’ll be forever in love with Breanna McDaniel’s Impossible Moon, about a little girl who thinks that if she can touch the moon, she can heal her grandmother. That book shows the constellations as famous Black figures in history and relates the importance of the cosmos to Black folks and our very being. Karen Good Marable’s Yaya and the Sea, about a little girl who travels with her mama and aunties to a beach in New York City to practice a ritual of spring renewal in the ocean, is also a forever fav. Both are illustrated by the great Tonya Engel, whose illustrations in Yaya earned the book a 2024 Best Illustrated Picture Books award from The New York Times. And not to toot my own horn, but the book I penned with celebrity chef Alexander Smalls, When Alexander Graced the Table, about a little chef making his first offering to his family’s Sunday dinner, is just a gorgeous, relatable, sweet story made all the more beautiful by Frank Morrison’s illustrations, every bit as juicy as the words.
What else would you like to tell us about your imprint and the passionate work you all do?
We are living in a time where history, education, memory, and Blackness is under assault, and it’s more important than ever to hold books like these up to the light, to share them with the children so that they know they are beautiful and smart and worthy and deserve to see themselves, their gorgeous selves, in the most incredible source of entertainment on the planet: books. They deserve that. We all do. It is my intention to keep opening doors and doing the work to create these jewels.
Thank you, Denene Millner Books!
