Countdown to Christmas

It's almost Christmas! Count down the days with festive activities in this next installment in the Brown Baby Parade series.

It’s 10 days ‘til Christmas!
We set up our tree—
ornaments, twinkling lights,
pretty as can be.

It’s 10 days ’til Christmas! A little girl and her family prepare by putting up the tree, wrapping presents, baking delicious treats, and much more. Read along as they count down to Christmas Day!

Nikki Shannon Smith's soothing, rhythmic text and Letícia Moreno's warm, welcoming illustrations pair beautifully to create heartwarming scenes of Black and brown babies in everyday life. The many seasonal activities will allow kids to relate no matter how their families celebrate!

Nikki Shannon Smith is the author of numerous books, ranging from picture books to young adult. Her work includes the Azaleah Lane chapter book series and five titles in Capstone’s multi-author historical fiction/adventure middle-grade series, Girls Survive. Nikki also wrote A Star Like Jesse Owens, a Smithsonian historical fiction title about the 1936 Olympics. Her forthcoming titles include Beautiful Colors (Random House/Little Golden Books, 2022) and additional board books in the Brown Baby Parade series. She is passionate about the authentic representation of all children and writes stories depicting the history and struggles of Black people as well as “Black joy.” She lives in Davis, California. Learn more about Nikki and her books at nikkishannonsmith.com.

Letícia Moreno is an illustrator and comic artist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She graduated in Art History in the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (EBA/UFRJ) and lives in a city named Maricá, next to lakes, a beach and lots, lots, lots, of green area! ​​​​​​​Her artwork focuses on drawing black characters but refusing stereotypes of black people – making cute, colorful and fun characters. When not drawing you will surely find Letícia either playing Animal Crossing, watching Twitch streams, making some vegan recipes or playing with her dogs, Soshi and Pimenta.