A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Colin Bootman is an accomplished illustrator and fine artist. He has published over 30 books, magazines and textbooks. Working with such publishers as Scholastic, Random House, Harper Collins, Little Brown and Holiday House, Mr. Bootman has amassed a number of achievements in the visual arts. Mr. Bootman is the recipient of the very prestigious 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Works for Children. His books have won countless awards; including the Teachers Choice Award by the International Reading Association, the Comstock Award, the Storytelling World Award, the Golden Kite Honor and many others. He also received the Coretta Scott King Honor in 2004 and the Schneider Family Book Award in 2006. Colin Bootman has exhibited his paintings in galleries and museum in the United States, Trinidad and the United Kingdom. Some of his solo and group shows include the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Borough Hall in Brooklyn New York, The Society of Illustrators in New York City, the Grace Institute in New York, De Gallery of Visual Arts and Horizons Art Gallery in Trinidad. Mr. Bootman’s work has recently exhibited at the Miami University Art Museum and the Fresno Art Museum. Mr. Bootman’s work is currently exhibited with the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, in Abilene Texas. It is Mr. Bootman’s hope that his work serves to inspire and lift the dignity of Caribbean people throughout the diaspora. He also hopes that his work can be used as a source of cultural and spiritual healing.