Jalissa Pollard, a Black Catholic children’s author from Louisiana, is back with her second book—this time on a beloved Bible story.
“The Faithfulness of Daniel” is scheduled for release on November 19th from publisher Melanin Origins, which publishes youth-oriented books from Black authors on Black history and Black empowerment.
Their latest series, “All In All”, features stories from the Old Testament with brown-skinned characters and uplifting spiritual themes based on the nine Fruits of the Spirit from Galatians chapter 5.
Pollard’s offering, with illustrations from Adua Hernandez, is the third in the set and highlights faithfulness, following books on Abraham (love) and Elisha (gentleness and self-control).
“I was approached by the Melanin Origins CEO to pen one of the books,” Pollard told BCM.
“We were given a list of people from the Old Testament which we could choose. My eyes zeroed in on Daniel, as he has been on my heart for the past few years. He has a spirit of excellence, one which I hope to embody on a daily basis.”
It’s book launch week! Feeling magical 💪🏾💎✅🔥
— JPollard (@TheYSS_Writes) November 14, 2021
The book marks a turn for Pollard, whose first book, “My Grandma Is a Lady”, was an original story based on her own life experience as a Black Catholic and granddaughter of a lady in the Knights of Peter Claver.
That book has picked up steam since its release in 2019, and was featured on the BCM podcast earlier this year.
“We need more Black Catholic children’s books. I see people asking for it all the time,” she said on the episode in March 2021.
Though Melanin Origins is not a Catholic publisher, the ecumenical presence of Pollard on their author roll makes for quite the showing in its own right.
Her new book will be available on Friday in hardcover and paperback.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger, a seminarian with the Josephites, and a ThM student with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).
