Selina Alko and Sean Qualls

Hi, Sean! Hi, Selina! 

Sean: Hi, Mr. Schu! 

Selina: Hi, Mr. Schu! 

Thank you for visiting Watch. Connect. Read. to chat with me about Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, picture books, and reading. :) 

Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass are American icons. 

Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglass were also friends, who worked together in the mid-1800s to change the unfair laws against women and African Americans. 

The illustrations for Two Friends: Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglass were made with paint and collaged 19th century manuscripts, such as letters, documents and bits of Anthony's and Douglass's speeches. We wanted to emphasize the power that their words had in enacting change.

When we received Dean Robbins' manuscript... Wow, are they really going to let us do this again? 

Loving v. Virginia is the best named Supreme Court case in history. Richard and Mildred had the perfect last name, Loving, symbolizing the right for people of all races who love each other to marry. I believe the 1967 case paved the way for the gender marriage equality win in 2015. #lovewins

Picture books are a window onto the world, a door to the imagination and a way for children to delve into an array of situations, cultures and histories, to explore shapes, forms, line and color juxtaposed with words. Picture books give a child a sense of who they are in the world and who they may become. 

Reading is my greatest personal pleasure. 

Mr. Schu, you should have asked us how we met. (Just kidding, everyone asks us that. It is often assumed we met in art school like most illustrator couples, but we actually met at a wedding.)