Javaka Steptoe is an eclectic young artist, designer, and illustrator, building a national reputation as an outstanding contributor to the genre of children’s literature. He is the 2017 recipient of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for Radiant Child, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Utilizing everyday objects, from aluminum plates to pocket lint, and sometimes illustrating with a jigsaw and paint, he delivers reflective and thoughtful collage creations filled with vitality, playful energy, and strength. For Steptoe,  "...collage is a means of survival. It is how Black folks survived four hundred years of oppression, taking the scraps of life and transforming them into art forms."

As both an artist and educator, he challenges traditional notions of Black art, emphasizing the richness of a collective past through his use of family as a recurring theme and centerpiece. Steptoe explains, "I want my audience no matter what their background, to be able to enter into my world and make connections with comparable experiences in their own lives."