Erin Dealey

Today is the Book Birthday of Natasha Tripplett‘s new book, Downtown Doors,

illus. Leah Giles, WaterBrook/PRH,

and we are thrilled to celebrate this wonderful picture book.

From the Publisher: Join a mother and son on a journey through their city’s downtown in this picture book that celebrates strong communities–the love they give us, and what we can give back in return.

“Each turn of the page is a trip from one fantastic door to the next. Downtown Doors is a journey into and through the heart of a child—and when you get to the last page, your own heart will soar.”

—Martha Brockenbrough, award-winning author of A Gift of Dust

About the Author

You may remember meeting Natasha Tripplett on the blog when we celebrated Planted with Love: Growing Into a Family in March. Natasha is a licensed social worker and children’s author who really does write from a tree house perched in a sycamore tree at her home near Oakland, California. (You can find tree house photos on her Book Birthday blog for The Blue Pickup.) We have also been honored to celebrate the release of Juneteenth Is . We are thrilled to welcome her back for Downtown Doors.

Let’s ask some questions.

Q 1. In a previous interview (see links above), you mentioned Downtown Doors is “meant to offer hope to children who may feel overwhelmed by observing the social issues of food and housing insecurities:

“It is becoming harder and harder to ignore the suffering of so many people. Children are observing our world, but they are not often included in the conversation of how to address it. DOWNTOWN DOORS follows a little boy who plays a role in becoming part of the solution.” NT

Knowing that you’re a licensed social worker, was there a specific moment that nudged you to write Downtown Doors?

Natasha Tripplett: I remember driving down the streets of downtown Oakland and seeing tent after tent on the sides of the roads. They were in parking lots, freeway entrances, neighborhoods… Although this was not a new sight, I was overwhelmed at the thought of trying to encourage my own children to see people as humans, while as a society we let people live in such dire conditions.

I started to wonder what children thought about as they looked out their own car windows. Did they feel overwhelmed? Scared? Desensitized? Did they see the people living in those tents as part of their community? This nudged me to write something that explored how children can think about these big topics without putting on them the burden of solving social issues in economic terms.

Collage-art Illustrations

Q 2. I love that illustrator Leah Giles incorporated many Oakland, California landmarks in her collage-style art in the book. Were these a part of your initial vision or was this something Leah chose to do? (ED note: As an Oakland girl myself, I am very excited to hear about this!)

Natasha Tripplett: Leah is an incredible artist, and I feel so lucky to have gotten to work with her. When exploring illustrator options, I specifically told my editor that I wanted to work with someone who does collage art. Issues of food and housing insecurities are nuanced. The reasons that people are in those situations don’t have easy solutions. I felt like the cut, mis-matched papers that some see as “garbage” would be a great medium to use and showcase the beauty in humanity.

From the beginning, I envisioned this story taking place in Oakland. That is where I was when the story first tugged at my heart. I was able to jump on a zoom call with my editor, art director, and Leah. We talked about the vision, and she asked if I would be willing to send her photos of specific landmarks that she could include in the illustrations.

My husband drove me around and I hopped out the car and snapped pictures to send her. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the ways she depicted the landmarks. Anyone who knows Oakland, knows that all these places are not on a sequential walk, but they had meaning to me and that is why we included them.

Q 3. What is your favorite spread or line of text?

Natasha Tripplett: It is so hard to pick just one spread, because I truly love them all. I will highlight two that really caught my attention. The first one is the scene at the barbershop. I was giddy when I saw that spread. The way that Leah depicted the sound coming out of the boombox was brilliant.

The second spread that I want to share is at the bus stop. I love this one because it captures the diversity of Oakland. There are people from different races and religious backgrounds. In Oakland, it is common for diverse groups of people to interact and authentically participate in each other’s lives. I think this is a unique aspect of our community.

Giving and Taking

Q 4. You mentioned community. What do you want readers to come away with in regards to community?

Natasha Tripplett: One of the things that concerns me is that as a society we are moving away from actively participating in our communities.

People often use the phrase “give back to our community.” In some ways, this implies that someone has left the community and are now in a hierarchical relationship with the people from their community. They are above and, in a position, to give but not receive. I want this book to highlight the importance of participating in our communities.

Sometimes we will give and other times we will receive. That is why I used the metaphor of a door. Doors open and we can walk out of them, and people can walk in them. Sometimes we will need to bless those around us, and other times we may need a blessing.

Book Launch plans!

Q 5. How are you planning to celebrate the launch of this book?

Natasha Tripplett: I have several upcoming events planned, but one that I am really excited about is a story hour at Marcus Books. They are featured in the art in the book, so I feel honored to partner with them for an event at their bookstore. As the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the country, it was important to me to include and honor them in the book.

Save the date!

The event will be November 1, 2025, at 11 am

(3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland California).

Happy Book Birthday to Downtown Doors,

and huge thanks to Natasha for letting us celebrate with her.

To learn more about Natasha Tripplett and her work, visit her website: natashabooks.com

and follow her on social media:

FB: natasha.tripplett

TwitterX: @TashaTripplett

Insta: natasha_stories

Next up on the blog:

We are celebrating Lynn Smith’s DEBUT picture book: Just Keep Going.

Illustrated by Lauren Gallegos (Sourcebooks/ Jabberwocky)

which releases September 30th.

Happy September reading!