Jonda C. McNair

Dr. Jonda C. McNair is the Charlotte S. Huck Endowed Professor of Children’s Literature. She specializes in literature intended for youth with an emphasis on books written by and about African Americans. She is a past chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee and was a member of the 2019 Randolph Caldecott Award Selection Committee. Dr. McNair served as chair of the 2021 John Newbery Award Selection Committee and is currently President of the Association for Library Service to Children. She is a former coeditor of the Journal of Children’s Literature and Language Arts, the journal of the Elementary Section of the National Council of Teachers of English. Her work has appeared in journals such as Review of Educational Research, The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, Young Children, The Journal of Negro Education, and Children's Literature in Education. Dr. McNair is a former elementary school teacher of students in grades K-2.

Ph.D., Language, Literacy, and Culture, The Ohio State University, 2003
M.Ed., Elementary Education, University of Florida, 1994
B.A., Elementary Education, University of Florida, 1992

• Access and Equity
• Children's Literature
  • African American children's literature
  • Culturally diverse children's literature
  • Poetry
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Early Childhood Education and Teaching
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• Equity
• Literacy
  • Early childhood
  • Elementary
• Reading Teacher Education

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Brownies’ Book—one of the first periodicals created primarily for African American children—Dr. McNair coedited a volume in the Children’s Literature Association’s Centennial Studies Series celebrating the significance of this magazine. The volume is titled A Centennial Celebration of The Brownies’ Book and was published in 2022.