Hey You!

Hey You!

An empowering celebration of growing up Black

Summary

"It distils the fierce heartache of racist injustice as well as a passionate sense of joy and hope for the future."
The Guardian

"From the pain of systemic racism to the hope of the future, it's an honest but largely uplifting read, aimed at children particularly."
Evening Standard

"A series of clever and witty illustrations matched with informative text guides the reader through a series of situations where they might encounter prejudice, and how to form strategies to overcome a situation before it becomes a problem."
The Independent

"This beautiful book also serves as a brilliant directory of work from black illustrators."
BookTrust

This groundbreaking picture book is a lyrical, inspirational exploration of growing up Black, written by award-winning illustrator Dapo Adeola, and brought to life by some of the most exciting Black illustration talents working today.


Remember to dream your own dreams
Love your beautiful skin
You always have a choice

This book addresses - honestly, yet hopefully - the experiences Black children face growing up with systemic racism, as well as providing hope for the future, delivering a powerful message to a new generation of dreamers. It's a message that is both urgent and timeless - and offers a rich and rewarding reading experience for every child.

To mirror the rich variety of the Black diaspora, this book showcases artwork from Dapo and 18 incredible Black illustrators in one beautiful, powerful, and cohesive reading experience.

Reviews

  • Illustrator Dapo Adeola's debut as author, Hey You! (Puffin), is a lyrical celebration of growing up black. Featuring the work of 18 illustrators, including Diane Ewen, Onyinye Iwu and Selom Sunu - since, as Adeola states: "I'm just one person, I can't possibly hope to speak for the entire diaspora" - it distils the fierce heartache of racist injustice as well as a passionate sense of joy and hope for the future.
    Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian

About the authors

Dapo Adeola

Dapo Adeola is an illustrator, author and character designer who was awarded Illustrator of the Year at The British Book Awards in 2022. Dapo rocketed into the picture book world with his greatly acclaimed illustrator debut, Look Up!, written by Nathan Bryon and published by Puffin in 2019, which won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2020. Dapo illustrated My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and My Mum Is a Lioness written by award-winning author Swapna Haddow (both published by Macmillan Children's Books), and collaborated with Malorie Blackman on their picture book We're Going to Find the Monster!

Dapo made his author debut in 2021 with the Puffin published picture book Hey You!: An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black, featuring 18 talented Black British illustrators, which also went on to win Illustrated book of the year at The British Book Awards in 2022. Dapo was announced as the winner of the inaugural Illustrator of the Year Award for The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (the Lollies), which celebrates the best and funniest children's books in the UK and Ireland, voted for by children in 2023.

Born in Britain and of Nigerian heritage, Dapo is an avid believer in the importance of equal representation in the creative arts. He currently lives in London.
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Alyissa Johnson (Illustrator)

Alyissa Johnson is a graphic designer and lettering artist who focuses on positivity and feminism. You can find Alyissa playing with her dog Luna or selling prints at a local pop-up shop in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Sharee Miller (Illustrator)

Sharee Miller ilives on the east coast of America. Her art is fresh, full of joy and encourages all who view it to smile.
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Jade Orlando (Illustrator)

Jade Orlando lives in Atlanta, Georgia. When she's not drawing, you can usually find her curled up with her cats and a really good book.
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Diane Ewen (Illustrator)

Diane Ewen is a British illustrator, born in Walsall, in the West Midlands. She has always been in love with art and graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a B.A. Honours Degree in illustration. Diane likes to create illustrations that are hand-drawn in pencil before painting in watercolour and acrylics prior to embellishing them using Photoshop but she also enjoys creating designs digitally; constantly developing her style as she progresses. She likes the fact that illustrations are the first things that entice the reader to engage with a book and is inspired by the use of vibrant colour.
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Reggie Brown (Illustrator)

Reggie Brown lives in San Diego, California. He has always loved to draw and can't remember wanting to be anything but an artist. Reggie loves the McRib and wants it back.
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Onyinye Iwu (Illustrator)

Onyinye is a Nigerian illustrator and author. She was born in Italy where she spent her childhood, then moved to the UK. Onyinye enjoys reading books and drawing patterns.
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Chanté Timothy (Illustrator)

Chanté Timothy creates work that explores different themes of diversity and inclusion. She's best known for her debut book A Black Woman Did That by Malaika Adero.
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Gladys Jose (Illustrator)

Gladys Jose is an illustrator and storyteller. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2012, where she earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, specializing in graphic design. Gladys is the illustrator of FRESH PRINCESS (HarperCollins, 2019), THE ELEPHANTS HIDE AND SEEK HANDBOOK (Sourcebooks 2020) LEONORA BOLT: SECRET INVENTOR (Puffin 2021) as well as a chapter book series for EPIC! Books.
Gladys lives in the sunny state of Florida with her husband and daughter.
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Bex Glendining (Illustrator)

Bex Glendining is based in the UK, and has worked on projects such as Seen: Edmonia Lewis, Penultimate Quest, Nubia: Real One and Lupina.
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Joelle Avelino (Illustrator)

Joelle Avelino is a Congolese and Angolan Illustrator and Animator. Her animation project with Malala fund was featured on Design Weekly's favourite International Women's Day projects of 2020.
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Dunni Mustapha (Illustrator)

Dunni grew up in the UK and has always been fascinated by picture books and magazines. She likes using pictures to tell stories and capturing people's quirks and unique traits.
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Nicole Miles (Illustrator)

Nicole Miles is an illustrator, cartoonist, hand-letterer and designer from the Bahamas. She currently lives in West Yorkshire in the UK with her pet snake and human boyfriend.
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Charlot Kristensen (Illustrator)

Charlot has worked with clients such as Google, New York Times and Huffpost. Her first graphic novel, What We Don't Talk About, was published in 2020.
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Kingsley Nebechi (Illustrator)

Kingsley is a Nigerian based in London. Crazy for comics, fanatical about films and inspired by African art, Kingsley is recognised for his commercial and gallery work.
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Camilla Sucre (Illustrator)

Camilla Sucre is a Caribbean American artist born in New York and raised in Baltimore. She studied illustration and film at MICA with a passion for multidisciplinary arts and telling stories.
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Derick Brooks (Illustrator)

Derick Brooks (he/him) is based in Richmond, Virginia and loves to create adventurous stories about Black folk. He lives with his wife and pets, and really loves potatoes.
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Jobe Anderson (Illustrator)

Jobe Anderson lives in Birmingham in the UK. He loves creating wacky scenarios and making short stories. When he isn't drawing, you'll find him reading comic books and watching movies.
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Selom Sunu (Illustrator)

Selom Sunu is based in London. His children's illustration work includes The Puffin Book of Big Dreams and New York Times bestseller Ghost by Jason Reynolds.
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