Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts

Did you know that James Baldwin wrote a children's book? Little Man, Little Man tells the story of a day in Harlem as experience by a young boy named TJ, who in real life happened to be Baldwin's nephew. The actual TJ had asked his famous uncle when he was going to write a book about him. Baldwin delivered, but the result was published in 1976 to confused and ambivalent reviews that didn't know what to make of the language, which didn't fit the mold of other children's books, or the story's inclusion of gun violence, drug addition, and police brutality. It quickly went out of print. Now 40 years later, that book has been republished.

Baldwin's niece and nephew, Aisha Karefa-Smart and Tejan "TJ" Karefa-Smart stopped by the Schomburg for Research in Black Culture to talk about their childhood and memories of their uncle. Joining them were the co-editors of the new edition of the book, Jennifer DeVere Brody and Nicholas Boggs. Their conversation was moderated by author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jacqueline Woodson.