Teacup Full of Roses by Sharon Bell Mathis

(Illustrator George Ford won the first Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for that title too.) And in 1976, Mathis won one of the industry’s highest awards - a Newbery Honor for The Hundred Penny Box, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Tea Cup Full of Roses, another middle-grade, was recognized as a notable title by the American Library Association (ALA). In 1974, she won the Coretta Scott King Author Award for her picture book, Ray Charles. One of her early middle-grade novels, Sidewalk Story, was chosen as a Child Study Association of America’s Children’s Book of the Year.

It didn’t take long for Mathis’ books to win acclaim. That contest also helped Walter Dean Myers and Mildred Taylor break in, Bishop said. Her story, “The Fire Escape,” was published and her career as a children’s book author began to bloom.Īccording t o a Horn Book interview with Rudine Sims Bishop, Mathis’ work was brought to the attention of publishers by a contest sponsored by the Council on Interracial Books for Children. In the 60s, Mathis returned to her roots. Perhaps the magic of the fire escape – peopled with characters from her books and her imagination - never left her. Instead, she became a teacher after graduating from Morgan State University. Everything was possible while I sat and imagined on my fire escape,” said Mathis in Something About the Author.īut though she had a passion for reading and a talent for writing, Mathis didn’t plan on becoming an author. “I don’t remember when I actually realized how very special was this private playground/haven/sanctuary of mine.

There, she stepped through the pages of books into new and exciting worlds. As a child, one of Sharon Bell Mathis’ favorite reading spaces was the iron fire escape above the backyard.

Teacup Full of Roses by Sharon Bell Mathis