
In 2004, Scholastic published his books The Low-down, Bad-day Blues, and Stop, Drop, and Chill. As part of the library's "Stories to Go" program, Barnes was hired to travel to sites such as schools, daycares, and churches reading to children, and share stories with them. In 2011, Barnes began working part-time in the Kansas City Public Library's outreach department.

In 2003, he left Hallmark and moved to New Orleans, where he worked a variety of jobs before signing a multi-book deal with children's book publisher Scholastic. Career īarnes began his writing career in 1999 as the first full-time black male copywriter for Hallmark. In 2018 Barnes received several awards that include the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award for his 2017 book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.īarnes' books celebrate African American culture and feature positive images of black children in everyday life.


He is known for writing several popular series of children's books and is a former staff writer for Hallmark greeting cards.
