About Phyllis C. Hunter

Phyllis C. Hunter was an internationally renowned and beloved literacy expert who served as an advisor to both the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. Her advice about reading instruction and the importance of classroom libraries in building successful, avid readers was always direct and to the point.

Hunter served as a district reading manager, principal, and speech and language therapist. In 2009 she was named the Marcus Garvey Educator of the Year by the National Alliance of Black Educators, and in that same year Scholastic Education presented her with its inaugural Heroes Award for her contributions to the field of children’s literacy. Hunter served on the advisory board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, which awards the nation’s largest yearly K–12 public education prize, as well as the advisory board of several national literacy organizations, including the Consortium for Reading Excellence (CORE), the Neuhaus Education Center, and the National Center for Family Literacy. She played a key role on the advisory council for Scholastic's Family and Community Engagement (FACE).

In addition to having created the Phyllis C. Hunter Classroom Libraries, Hunter was the author of It’s Not Complicated! What I Know For Sure About Helping Our Students of Color Become Successful Readers. Phyllis passed away in 2018, and is dearly missed by her colleagues in the education community, the many children she served, as well as all of us here at Scholastic.