Kadir Nelson is an illustrator of children's books, most of which feature African-American history. He has worked on more than 25 books, including "Ellington Was Not a Street," which won the Coretta Scott King Award in 1999. Mr. Nelson will speak at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Carnegie Library in Oakland as part of the Black, White and Read All Over series.

Q: How would you describe your work to people who are not familiar with it?

A: I think that my primary focus is telling stories with my work. There's always a story that's being told, and it is often emotional.

Q: How did you start illustrating children's books?

A: I was working in the film industry before this, doing artwork for animation and live action features when I met Debbie Allen. We ended up doing a book together because she was directing and choreographing a play called "Brothers of the Knight" and she wanted to make it into a book. Since then I have been illustrating children's books pretty much full time.

Q: You usually illustrate other people's books, but recently you put out a book that you illustrated and wrote. What inspired you to do that?

A: It wasn't really my intention; my original intention was to work with an author. I knew the story, and I knew how I wanted to tell it, and I didn't want to tell an author what and how to write, so I gave it a shot myself.

Q: Who is your favorite artist?

A: I don't have one favorite, I have a bunch of favorites, and it always changes. Early on I think I was influenced by Jacob Lawrence.

Q: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?

A: I probably would have liked to have met Martin Luther King Jr. or Abraham Lincoln or Harriet Tubman. It's so hard to decide. Martin Luther King Jr. was very inspirational. I would love to have heard him. Abraham Lincoln was just so great, and Harriet Tubman was just so brave and awe-inspiring.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now I'm working on a book about Joe Louis and also a book about American history that I am illustrating. It's primarily African-American history. That's what's on my plate right now.

Q: How long does it take you to make an illustration?

A: Usually it takes about three days per painting. Some of the larger paintings, like in the baseball book, "We Are the Ship," can take much longer. But, generally, three days.

Q: What advice would you give to people who want to be artists?

A: I would suggest that you focus on your foundation. That is the most important part of doing art. If you want to be an illustrator, you have to learn to draw. If you want to be a painter you have to learn to paint and so on. Also, make sure your art is meaningful to you in some way. If it's meaningful to you, it will be meaningful to someone else.

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