In 1995, Lee & Low Books published her first picture book, "Juneteenth Jamboree", about a summer celebration in memory of the Texas Emancipation. She then wrote a series of board books for preschoolers. In 1998, she co-authored "Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African American Church", and then published a collection of poetry, "The Tar Baby on the Soapbox". After establishing herself as a versatile writer for both children and adults, she published two nonfiction chapter books before penning her first award-winning children's book, "The Sound That Jazz Makes" (2001), a poem that traces the history of African-American music.