John Steptoe

John Steptoe (1950-1989) was an American author and illustrator of children's books who broke ground depicting the African-American experience, beginning with his debut Stevie at age 16, which was featured fully in Life magazine. Obituary. He illustrated 16 books, writing many himself, with major works including Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner, praised as a breakthrough in African culture representation) and The Story of Jumping Mouse (another Caldecott Honor).John Steptoe site, MacDowell. He also won Coretta Scott King Awards for Mother Crocodile and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, and the Coretta Scott King committee now gives the John Steptoe New Talent Award in his honor.ALA.