
It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes. Originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. Here’s a quick description of THE UNDEFEATED: One interesting note: This year’s winner and honorees are all author and illustrator teams-which is fairly unusual for this award that primarily focuses on illustration. This book brings to life the words of the poetic text by showcasing portraiture illustrations of prominent figures in history. The culmination of our 2020 series celebrates THE UNDEFEATED written by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and published by Versify.

Our final installment of our 2020 Caldecott series celebrates the 2020 Caldecott Medal Winner: THE UNDEFEATED by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson! We hope this year’s analysis prompts to you look deeper at other picture books as well as your own manuscripts.
