She published her first children's book, The Big Box, in 1999, which she worked on with her son Slade, that focuses on describing the ways that well-meaning adults sometimes block their children's independence and creativity. Morrison was given a National Arts and Humanities Award by President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C. In the speech the President gave during that award ceremony, Clinton said that Morrison had "entered America's heart" ("Toni Morrison Biography").
As you can see, Morrison was an incredible woman that achieved so much, especially for being an African American in that time period. Morrison is careful to explain her story. She grew up in an integrated neighborhood and therefore didn't become aware of racial divisions until she was in her teens. She once told a reporter from The New York Times, "When I was in first grade, nobody thought I was inferior. I was the only black in the class and the only child who could read." Her writing is definitely influenced by how she views her writing functioning much like storytelling in the past. She believes that it reminds people about their heritage and shows them their place in the community. Frequently using childhood memories to help start writing, Morrison's real-life world is often included in her novels. As a reader, we largely benefit from Morrison's informative and emotionally connective reading material. It opens our eyes to the challenges of the past while allowing us to experience an absolutely wonderful and influential story. .
In an endeavor to find how the "Blues Aesthetic" interferes and interacts with the reader's perception of the novel, Cat Moses attempts to discover the necessity of the emotional content in The Bluest Eye. Moses understands that the reader is constantly overwhelmed by the emotionally effecting content - Pecola's incestuous rape, ensuing pregnancy, and abandonment by her community - that we often miss the music in the lyrically "songified" narrative.