Tonya Duncan Ellis

📘📕STORYTIME - I read THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM and did crafts with little ones this Saturday at ! It was great to see kids’ excitement about learning and books. Thanks so much to my friend for coming to support and take photos. 📸🤗📚❤️ And thank you for hosting me! 🥰

If you’re in the area, stop by and support this great new shop! Besides great books, they have board games and family activities, and they are constantly hosting fun events.

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/7-books-for-celebrating-juneteenth

14 Books for Celebrating Juneteenth | Parenting Tips & Advice For families with young children, books can be a great start for important conversations about understanding the history and traditions of Juneteenth. Here are 14 books to have on your shelves for Jubilee Day.

💙🤍❤️📚 Celebrated Juneteenth season with my friends at Good On Paper bookstore! It was great to share the history of the holiday and read my picture book THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM with young readers.

📘Good on Paper bookstore has an amazing summer reading program for kids that includes affordable book bundles and prizes for reading. I’m honored my book is included.☀️📖Summer reading is a fond memory I have with my own kids.

📕It’s always nice to visit this cute and cozy bookstore, and recent renovations make it even more adorable. I could seriously hang out in the store for hours, and they have all the latest reads! Plans are in the works for me to return with my upcoming release CUPCAKE CHEMISTRY. Can’t wait! 😃🧁🎉

HarperKids KT Literary Agency

📚I’m heading to The Woodlands this Saturday to read THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM, autograph books and share the history of Juneteenth! Join me at at 2 PM CT, June 13 at 1201 Lake Woodlands Drive in The Woodlands Mall. I’d love to meet you! 🤗📚❤️

📚☀️A summer challenge to read books by Black authors? 🤔Sign me up! ✅ Thanks for coming up with this amazing idea ! 🙌🏾 I’ve already read a fun Black cowboy romance by 🤠 this month, and I’m looking forward to reading more books by other Black authors this season.

Juneteenth is right around the corner. Check out my picture book, THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM: THE STORY OF JUNETEENTH AND HOUSTON’S EMANCIPATION PARK, to meet the challenge. ☺️📚

🦋I had a sweet story time sharing THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM: THE STORY OF JUNETEENTH AND HOUSTON’S EMANCIPATION PARK with precious little ones and their families. Thanks so much for having me bnweslayantx! 🤗 I look forward to returning with my upcoming book, CUPCAKE CHEMISTRY🧁 next year.

🤗📚❤️Thanks for sharing THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM with your students !
REPOST -Today our kinder students learned about the holiday Juneteenth with Mrs. Jenkins!

Students listened to They Built Me for Freedom: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston’s Emancipation Park by Tonya Duncan Ellis , illustrated by Jenin Mohammed We discussed what freedom means to us and created special flags showing what freedom allows us to do, be, and become.

Want to learn about the first time I met Newbery Medal winning author Kwame Alexander and my other info about my author journey? Check out the details in this Space City Scribes Blog Post:

Tonya Ellis Tonya Ellis May 04, 2026 By Margaret Lea Tonya Ellis, one of our own Houston chapter members, is both self-published and traditionally published in many KidLit genres. Read all about her journey in the email interview below.  1) Tell us about your writing journey. For example: When did you start se...