Wise Advice from a Lion

At ALA midwinter meeting, Pinkney was announced as recipient of  two lifetime achievement awards: Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement winner as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his “substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”  

That is an extraordinary thing and most well-deserved. Pinkney has been a hard working and creative author and illustrator throughout his career. Never one to bask in the spotlight, he has just kept producing extraordinary work on behalf of kids.

Recently, Hornbook (January 26, 2016) did a quick Five Questions for Jerry Pinkney. 

The brief Hornbook article ended with the following question and answer: "You're known as a lion in this field. Do you have any advice for the young cubs just coming  up?" 

And Jerry's reply? "Make it all about the work. Everything else will follow."

I read that and thought, yep, that pretty much applies to any work in any field including our profession. And he has it exactly right.