Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb

A timely picture book biography about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, who sought the Democratic nomination to be the president of the United States.

Shirley Chisholm famously said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." This dynamic biography illuminates how Chisholm was a doer, an active and vocal participant in our nation's democracy, and a force to be reckoned with. Now young readers will learn about her early years, her time in Congress, her presidential bid and how her actions left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire, uplift, and instruct.


About the Author
Veronica Chambers is the award-winning author of many books for children and adults, including Mama's Girl and Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa. Born in Panama, she grew up in Brooklyn, where she remembers walking to school and seeing Shirley Chisholm for Congress posters all around her neighborhood. She has been a senior editor at the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Glamour, and is currently the editor of Past Tense, the New York Times archival storytelling initiative devoted to publishing articles based on photographs recently rediscovered from its archives.

Rachelle Baker is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit, Michigan, with a background in relief printing, illustration, comic art, video art, and music. Her work can be seen in The New York Times and will appear in the book Making our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani, to be published by Ten Speed Press in January. This is her first fully illustrated picture book.