Reycraft Books and Acclaimed, Award-Winning Author, Carole Boston Weatherford, Team Up for Grind: An Ode to Skateboarding
The picture book offers a poetic guide to skateboarding that celebrates the spirit, the language, and the energy of the sport.
NEW ROCHELLE, NY, Sep. 23, 2025— Leading children’s trade publisher Reycraft Books is pleased to announce the publication of Grind: An Ode to Skateboarding, written by acclaimed author, Carole Boston Weatherford—winner of the 2025 American Library Association (ALA) Children's Literature Legacy Award and numerous other honors—and illustrated by influential international artist, Angurria. Released on September 23, 2025, this tribute to the popular sport marks the first collaboration between Reycraft and Weatherford, whose 80-plus books include renowned works of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
Written in rhyming verse, Grind shows readers how to get started with skateboarding and then get on a roll—from choosing the right board to decorating it to wearing safety gear to mastering impressive, gravity-defying moves. Along the way, Weatherford sprinkles in the jargon used in the sport, introducing readers to terms like “deck” (the flat, wooden board that a skateboarder stands on) and “ollie,” “tic tac,” and “boardslide” (different types of skateboarding tricks).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carole Boston Weatherford A one-time "skateboard mom," was practically born with ink in her blood. The daughter of a printer, she began writing at age six and saw her poems in print not long after that. She has written more than 80 books, and her work has garnered two NAACP Image Awards and 18 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award, and four Caldecott Honors. Most recently she received the 2025 American Library Association Children's Literature Legacy Award. Weatherford’s career achievements have been recognized with the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Nonfiction Award from the Children's Book Guild, and induction into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. The 2024 Young People's Poet Laureate and retired English professor lives in Maryland.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:
Néstor Omar García López, widely known as Angurria, is a talented Dominican artist with a rich and diverse career spanning 25 years in the realms of illustration, art direction, and graphic muralism. He has collaborated with numerous local and international brands. Angurria's influence extends beyond his artwork as he has also served as an educator, teaching courses at esteemed institutions such as the School of Arts of Chavón, APEC University, Brothers, Centro León, and Creative Box. Through his teaching, he instills not only artistic sensitivity but also the discipline necessary for his students to pursue their dreams. Angurria has also made his mark at mural festivals around the world. His journey is a testament to his unwavering dedication to his craft, his commitment to sharing his knowledge, and his passion for celebrating Dominican and Latino culture through his work.
Weatherford’s most recent books include 2021’s Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre and 2023’s How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee. Over the course of her career she has received two NAACP Image Awards and 18 ALA Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King award, and four Caldecott Honors. She said her latest project came about because she found it interesting that skateboarding began as a street sport and went on to become an Olympic sport in 2020. “Given its worldwide popularity, I thought the sport deserved a book,” Weatherford said.
It also helped, she added, that she was already well acquainted with skateboarding. “I never skateboarded myself,” Weatherford said. “But I was a skateboard mom. On Friday evenings, I’d take my son to the local indoor skate park.” She explained that watching her son in action helped her develop an appreciation of the sport. “Skateboarding is not just extreme, it’s exhilarating,” she said. “With practice, almost anyone can skateboard.”
Weatherford’s rhyming text is given visual life by the book’s striking graphic design and Angurria’s dynamic illustrations. “They give readers an up-close perspective of the sport,” the author said, “almost as if they’re on the deck themselves.”
ABOUT REYCRAFT BOOKS: partners with award-winning and up-and-coming authors and illustrators, primarily from underrepresented communities, to provide high-quality books that delight, inform, and honor the voice and vision of all children. Founded in 2019, the imprint publishes authentic stories—engaging picture books, transitional chapter books, middle grade books, graphic novels, and more—that build knowledge, perspective, and connection, meeting the diverse needs of children, families, and educators.