Founder of Scholastic’s Cartwheel imprint and author Bernette G. Ford, 70, died June 20 of lung cancer. As the NYT notes, she “was a leading advocate of making children’s books more diverse and making sure that people of color had opportunities to write and illustrate them.” Ford joined Scholastic in 1989 and “was among the first Black executives at a major children’s book publisher.” In 2002 she formed Color-Bridge Books, which consulted on and packaged books for children. Wade Hudson of Just Us Books called Ford “an unsung hero in the push to bring more people of color into children’s book […]