Nov 6 2014

Book Review: Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh

Reviewed by Lila Quintero Weaver

DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: When her family moved to the town of Westminster, California, young Sylvia Mendez was excited about enrolling in her neighborhood school. But she and her brothers were turned away and told they had to attend the Mexican school instead. Sylvia could not understand why—she was an American citizen who spoke perfect English. Why were the children of Mexican families forced to attend a separate school? Unable to get a satisfactory answer from the school board, the Mendez family decided to take matters into their own hands and organize a lawsuit.

In the end, the Mendez family’s efforts helped bring an end to segregated schooling in California in 1947, seven years before the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation in schools across America.

Using his signature illustration style and incorporating his interviews with Sylvia Mendez, as well as information from court files and news accounts, Duncan Tonatiuh tells the inspiring story of the Mendez family’s fight for justice and equality.

MY TWO CENTS: Kudos to Duncan Tonatiuh for shining a bright spotlight on a consequential, but often overlooked chapter of American civil rights, and bringing this true story of Latinos fighting for racial justice to young readers. The book features Tonatiuh’s trademark, award-winning illustration and his retelling of the facts.

In the mid-1940s, when the action takes place, Sylvia Mendez is nine years old. She’s the daughter of Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican-born, naturalized citizen of the United States, and his wife, Felicitas, from Puerto Rico. When the Mendez family moves from Santa Ana, California, to a farming community in Orange County, Sylvia and her brothers are not permitted to enroll in the neighborhood school and are instead sent to a school designated for Mexicans, which is farther from home. Unlike the white children’s school, it’s dirty, crowded and lacks a playground. The students eat lunch outdoors next to a fly-infested cow pasture. To top it off, the teachers seem indifferent, as if Mexican children weren’t worth the bother.

The Mendez family launches a campaign to demand equal education for their children. Sylvia’s father first pursues answers from officials all the way up the line to the board of education, but no one offers a credible explanation. The common refrain is “that is how it is done.” Mr. Mendez organizes members of the Mexican community and hires a lawyer to challenge the discriminatory practices in court. Young Sylvia is in the courtroom during the proceedings, where she hears statements by a school official about the supposedly lice-ridden, inferior nature of Mexicans. It takes two court cases to settle the outcome. The judge’s final ruling states that “public education must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage.”

After Sylvia’s parents successfully face down California’s version of Jim Crow laws, she enrolls in the neighborhood school, shattering longstanding color barriers. In the corresponding page spread, a white boy tells Sylvia, “You don’t belong here,” and Sylvia is shown with a bowed head and a tear sliding down her cheek. Reminded by her mother of the long fight they undertook to win her right to equal schooling, Sylvia perseveres, proving herself as steely as her parents. In the closing pages, she and other brown-skinned children are shown side-by-side with white classmates in the school playground.

Tonatiuh’s account highlights the exemplary character of Mr. and Mrs. Mendez. Every movement for justice has its heroes and pioneers, and the Mendez family richly deserves that level of recognition. Taking up the fight involved considerable personal risk. They used their life savings to kickstart the legal fund. Eventually, they received wider support. Leading the charge took Mr. Mendez away from the farm for long stretches, leaving Mrs. Mendez to perform farming tasks that her husband normally would have handled. As the story shows, many Mexican families in the community declined to join the lawsuit, for fear of economic retribution. “No queremos problemas,” they said.

The California campaign for educational equality, spearheaded by the Mendez case, ultimately led to the 1954 ruling on Brown v. Board of Education. The victory illuminated by Separate is Never Equal belongs in a clear line of prominent milestones of American civil rights. How fortunate that someone with Tonatiuh’s skill has brought it out of the shadows.

TEACHING RESOURCES: Beyond the importance of the story, Tonatiuh’s groundbreaking illustrations deserve readers’ attention. His drawings marry childlike innocence with characteristics of ancient Mixtec art. (See my review of Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale for a fuller discussion of his style.) In Separate is Never Equal, the illustrations take on the added dimension of historical details from the 20^th century. Teachers may want to provide students with photographs from the era to demonstrate how carefully Tonatiuh researched and reproduced clothing, hairstyles, automobile models, and other authenticating markers of the 1940s.

As is generally the case with nonfiction picture books, younger readers will likely need adult guidance to understand sections of the story that deal with legal proceedings and other points of the Mendez’s battle.

This book presents powerful opportunities for teaching empathy and strengthening awareness of the pain that racism inflicts. One scene shows a public swimming pool with a sign stating, “No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed.” Mexican children look longingly through the fence at the white children frolicking in the pool. Teachers can pose discussion questions such as, “Imagine yourself on both sides of the fence. How would you feel in either situation?” Consider comparing Sylvia Mendez’s experiences with those of Ruby Bridges, the young African American girl who integrated New Orleans schools in 1960.

A section in the back of the book includes an author’s note, a glossary, a bibliography and explanatory details about methodology. Much of Tonatiuh’s research came from court documents and extensive interviews with Sylvia Mendez. Glossary entries include a handful of Spanish phrases used in the book and historical terms that round out the context. One example is the origin of “separate but equal,” a phrase plucked from the 1896 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, which laid the foundation for decades of Jim Crow laws.

In 2010, Sylvia Mendez received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is interviewed on this video, which highlights points of the story told in the book and shows photographs of her as a child and of the schools in question.

Duncan Tonatiuh was born and raised in Mexico. He studied art in the United States. His picture book Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale won the 2014 Tomás Rivera Mexican American children’s book award, and two honors for text and illustration from the Pura Belpré Award. Read more about Duncan on his official website.

Nov 3 2014

Guest Post: ¡Qué Vivan los Niños Luchadores!

All images from Niño Wrestles the World come courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

By Lettycia Terrones

On a bright, 108º F. Las Vegas afternoon, inside the cavernous decadence of Caesars Palace, audience members attending the 2014 Pura Belpré Award Celebración were treated to a gem of a speech by this year’s Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner, Yuyi Morales. Recognized for her outstanding book, Niño Wrestles the World, Yuyi’s acceptance speech affirmed the resilient strength of children and their power of imagination. Her words served as a reminder to all educators of the important charge we have to provide our children with stories that accurately portray their worlds and strengths.

Since 1996, the Pura Belpré Award has annually recognized Latin@ writers and illustrators for excellence in children’s literature that “best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience.” This year’s winner for illustration, Niño Wrestles the World, does just this by capturing –through story, rhythm, and images— the intangible ingredients that come together to form a uniquely Chicano-Latino flavor that any child growing up in East Los Angeles or El Paso will immediately recognize.

LloronaCard ChamucoCard What are these ingredients? La Llorna. El Chamuco. El Extraterrestre. La Cabeza Olmeca. Las Momias. These are the protagonists that star in countless cuentos told and re-told in Mexican and Chicano families. Yuyi presents a dynamic cuento of a boy-hero in a wrestling mask, un niño luchador, who through wit, humor, ganas, and family teamwork, outsmarts these terrifying figures of Mexican and Chicano cultural mythology. As Yuyi reminded us in her acceptance speech, children’s imaginative capacity is an empowering tool that enables them to confront life situations with positive resilience. In addition to her prepared remarks, Yuyi described her own imaginative process as a child, where she was able to transform the often scary and mysterious cultural myths of La Llorona and El Chamuco into figures she could contend with and, perhaps most importantly, learn to play with.

This transformative power demonstrates the enormous agency children have to make meaning in the world. It depicts what Dr. Tara Yosso points to in her seminal work on cultural wealth and social capital, which she calls Community Cultural Wealth. Community Cultural Wealth lists specific assets practiced and nurtured in communities of color, which serve as forms of resistance to the myriad social oppressions marginalized people contended with daily. Emerging from the cultural knowledge passed down in families and communities, these assets include “aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial and resistant capital.”

Yuyi’s book exemplifies Community Cultural Wealth at work. Its text and illustration display the wealth of linguistic storytelling traditions of cuentos handed down in our families. It also serves as a meta-narrative of resistance through its prominent use of Mexican and Chicano cultural images. Yuyi’s narrative and illustration authentically capture how, for instance, the myth of La Llorona is in continuous transformation as she is imagined by our children today. Instead of becoming clichéd tropes of Mexican and Chicano culture, El Chamuco, El Extraterrestre, La Cabeza Olmeca, and Las Momias, are represented authentically as living and changing stories. This truly is a marker of Yuyi’s outstanding mastery of the picture book. She brings to the world of children’s literature works that defy cultural stereotypes, and that champion children as creative, imaginative meaning-makers.

Photo by Lettycia Terrones, 2014

I thought a lot about the impact of Yuyi’s Niño Wrestles the World when I attended a Lucha Libre Night at the East Los Angeles Community Youth Center last spring. The family-run event brought in masked luchadores from Tijuana and Los Angeles to battle it out in the recreation center’s well-worn boxing ring. At the halftime marker, the ring became open for the many kids in attendance to frolic with abandon and take photos with the night’s Lucha Libre heroes. I thought about how for many children living in underserved communities, Yuyi’s story of the boy-hero, the niño luchador, is an actual and accurate depiction of their lives. I wondered how many of the kids in attendance that night had been exposed to Niño Wrestles the World in their classroom or public library. I wondered how this exposure would strengthen their sense of belonging and reflect back to them their self-efficacy.

Educators should remember the characters brought to life in Yuyi’s picture book are still very much alive today in the imaginations of Latino children. They are stories that form an essential cultural fabric of what it means to be Mexican and/or Chicano. Whether we call our people first-generation, second-generation, or if we are from generations that preceded the Treaty of Guadalupe, or are present-day refugee generations embarking on perilous journeys, climbing atop trains and traversing deserts, to seek our families and a promise of a better future in the United States. These stories are ours. They form an American story.

References

Pura Belpré Award

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal

Yosso*, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69-91.

Yuyi Morales, Illustrator Award Acceptance Speech, page 4 http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpre-14.pdf

Lettycia Terrones, M.L.I.S., serves as the Education Librarian at the Pollak Library at California State University, Fullerton. Her research interests are in Chicana/o children’s literature and critical literacy. Lettycia is an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar and a member of REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking.

Oct 27 2014

Robert Trujillo’s Successful Kickstarter Campaign for Furqan’s First Flat Top

By Robert Trujillo

Spot painting Peace Latin@s in Kid Lit readers! My name is Robert Trujillo and I’m an illustrator/author from Oakland, California. I am a part of a growing movement of independent children’s book creators here in the Bay Area, and it is an honor to be a contributor to this blog (I am a reader as well!). In this post, I am going to talk about my experience crowd funding my first children’s book and why creating the story is so important to me.

I’m a dad. My kid is 10 years old this year! When my son was first born, I decided that I wanted to read to him a lot and that I would look for cool books for and about him. As I got reacquainted with children’s literature, I found a few great stories that I enjoyed. I’ve always wanted to use my art to communicate a positive or progressive message, and while reading, I became inspired to tell my own stories–about children who are mixed racially, teen parents, kids who are raised bilingual or trilingual, alternative parenting, hip hop culture, social justice, freedom fighters, and more. But to be honest with you, when I sought out books in big stores like this, there weren’t any that reflected my son or these thoughts. In fact, I felt like these stories were almost invisible. So I decided I would make them. I did not know how to do it, so I decided to study. I’m still learning and will be a lifelong student of the craft.

After a three-year break, I decided to go back to college, finish my degree, and study storytelling in various ways. I immersed myself in comics, graphic novels, young adult novels, anime, film, and children’s books. I met a lot of very talented people who were also interested in telling their stories. I started to go to bookstores, blogs, events, etc. to learn. I sent out tons of art samples and contacted tons of editors, art directors, and publishers. I knew that it would be hard work and that it was normal to get a small response when you are just starting out, but I didn’t know until much later just how unrepresented stories that I want to tell were in the mainstream industry.

I reached out to other artists and writers in the field, who were gracious and generous–mostly. I understood that no one–NO ONE–was going to tell my story. Not only that, I could not wait any longer for people in power through the typical “submission” process to see it, understand it, or give me permission to tell it. I would have to do it on my own and take no shit from anyone. So I practiced, failed, tried out many styles, cultivated relationships, asked dumb questions, failed some more, shared my work all the time with family and friends, and slowly began to feel and be seen as a storyteller! I began to develop stories that spoke to me, without worrying if they were sellable to companies or gatekeepers in the industry. And one of those stories was Furqan’s First Flat Top.

It is partly based on my experience as I got my first flat top around the age of Furqan Moreno, the main character in the book. And it is partly a mixture of various influences, all thrown in the pot to make something that tastes right when I tell people about it, or draw. And that is why it is so important to me. But, how did I go from having an idea to getting it successfully funded? Well, here are some pointers.

Campaign Strategy

So for me doing a Kickstarter about my story was about figuring out the best way to approach it and building a team of trusted riders (friends) to roll with me. I could not have done this book without my family, friends, colleagues, and fellow book creators. When I started, I knew that I wanted to hit the people I know with an image that they could relate to and share easily. I knew that I wanted to connect the many circles I subscribe to or participate in. And I knew that I should do it when it felt right.

Authentic connections

What this means basically is to do what you love and seek out others who have very similar feelings at heart. People of all races, religions, political views, and beliefs can spot a phony a mile away. I am learning to take the time to not only create my story, but to invest in the children’s book community in some shape or form. For me, it means doing my homework, studying the art, etc. And when I do this, I often meet like-minded folks doing the same thing. After seven plus years, I’ve built some small connections with people. I’m still studying it, and I have a long way to go to be able to tell stories that touch people.

An art to it/outlet

Art has so many different connotations. I love to do many different types of art. I have a hard time sticking to one particular message or style because I like to explore. Exploring to me, means learning and growing. If I just paint a picture the same way over and over again because it works, it will be a style that is recognizable. But I want to transcend style. I want to just keep trying new things. So when I began working on a series of short stories using illustration and creative writing, it was a creative outlet. It was uninhibited and fun, and I think different folks connected with the stories for that reason. So, I would say “have fun” with your chosen medium first.

Social Media

This is a tough one for some folks. On the one hand, I try to detach sometimes. Not so much when I first started to explore with sites like Myspace, but now, I have more than 10 different platforms where I not only engage with people who have similar interests, but I share content. The majority of the time I’m sharing things that I have created, but very often I share things that others have written, drawn, or said because it inspires me. Social media to me isn’t so much about talking and having everyone listen to you. It is about having an ongoing conversation about what drives you. When you do that, you naturally connect with people from Ireland to Idaho and everywhere in between. And of course you want to check in with your friends and family, because they are the folks that will give you your first shot. Then they share it with other people, who in turn may also listen.

Communication

While the campaign was going, before, and even now as I type this, I try to be open to receive and give. Open communication is key. Of course, I have my privacy, but I do like to see what my favorite musician, journalist, or sculptor is doing lately. And so I share my work and talk about it. Sometimes it feels like no one is listening, and then there are these amazing bursts of conversation where I connect with people one on one about storytelling; and I had no idea they were even into it. It helps to be accessible. You can turn it on or off when necessary but get out there and talk to folks, online or in person.

Planning

Right now I’m looking at my storyboards, sketches, and manuscript for the book. It is very challenging to create a picture book, but this one is fun because it’s a chance to just do my thing. No art directors, no editors (even though they are definitely helpful at times), nada. It’s just me and a team of folks I rely on to say “yeah” or “nope” when the time is right and I can’t decide. Before the campaign, I planned to create a short story, develop it, test it, get feedback, and expand it. I planned to talk to blogs, and various activists in the field of diversity, and I came across a bunch of obstacles that I was not expecting.

Follow through and Community

As I mentioned, I get help from people. Seek out people, build a phone tree, an email group, a regular group. Whatever, just build a community of people who can support you and whom you can support. And set small goals and knock them out. Start small so you can follow through and finish them. This way, you build momentum and feel like you are achieving something, moving forward, or progressing.

Good luck to all of you creators out there!

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Robert Trujillo is a visual artist and father who employs the use of illustration, storytelling, and public art to tell tales. These tales manifest in a variety of forms and they reflect the artist’s cultural background, dreams, and political / personal beliefs. He can be found online http://work.robdontstop.com/ and on Twitter at @RobertTres.

Oct 17 2014

Scholastic Asks Three Questions to Three Latina Illustrators

By Concetta Gleason
Editorial Manager of Club Leo en Español

To mark the end of Hispanic Heritage Month this week, Club Leo en Español is proud to share exclusive art and interviews with three fantastic and dynamic Latina illustrators: Yuyi Morales (author/illustrator of Niño Wrestles the World), Angela Dominguez (author/illustrator of Maria Had a Little Llama /María tenía una llamita), and Alejandra Oviedo (illustrator of Animaletras).

We asked each artist to answer three questions in words and art:

1. What inspires your work?
2. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
3. What are your words to live by?

Each woman provided wildly imaginative, unique, and different examples of her artistic persona and motivations. Let’s explore!

Yuyi Morales won the 2014 Pura Belpré Illustration Award for Niño Wrestles the World. Not to brag but Yuyi briefly made us Internet-famous (by association) when she shared a sneak peek of her exclusive art on her resplendent Instagram account.

Yuyi answered the questions in a comic-book style and as a new person: she awoke one morning—transformed and “more beautiful than ever”—as “Tzitzimitl,” an ancient Aztec deity who shares a deep connection with the stars and astrology. Ha! Eat dust, Kafka.

For the record, Tzitzimitl > cockroach. Any day of the week. Thanks, Yuyi!

Alejandra Oviedo, the illustrator of Animaletras, sent us sweet and imaginative illustrations that capture the beauty and freedom of childhood. Her illustrations are made from intricate and delicate paper cuts, and she is inspired by looking at the world through the eyes of a child.

1. What inspired your work for Animaletras?

My inspiration for the illustrations came from kids’ drawings. I find them beautiful, and they portray the most important elements of each animal. I also paid attention to animal pictures, and I visited the zoo many times to capture not only the animals’ shapes but also their attitudes and personalities.

2. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I would love to fly like a bird.

3. Words to live by?

Always put love in what you do; believe in your dreams and do not leave them behind.

What inspiring answers! Thanks, Alejandra!

Angela Dominguez, author and illustrator of the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor book Maria Had a Little Llama /Maria tenía una llamita, sent us fun and playful photographs of Peruvian children and llamas that she used to as models and inspiration for her book.

1. What inspired your work for Maria Had a Little Llama/María tenía una llamita?

The inspiration for the project came from an illustrator’s assignment at a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference. I was given the task of doing my own version of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I was excited about the assignment, but I found it really difficult at first to find inspiration to reinterpret the classic story. My first doodles felt a little quiet, soft, and too familiar. I wanted my Mary to have personality with rich colors!

Whenever I’m stuck, I go to the library. There, I began researching sheep and farm life. It was in a book that I discovered a picture of a little girl with a llama. The idea of including llamas with the sheep led me to set the story in Peru. Finally I knew how I could personalize Mary, and that’s when Mary turned into Maria. The more I looked at books, the more I was inspired by the beautiful faces of the Peruvian children, the rich textiles, and the lush landscapes. I’ve never been to Peru, and I think my desire to visit the country pushed me to create landscapes of this idealized world I have in my head.

2. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I would teleport. I love traveling, but I don’t particularly enjoy flying or how long it takes to get somewhere. Plus I would love to be able to give a family member or a friend a hug really quickly and then get back to work.

3. Do you have a life motto or favorite phrase?

I have a few. First, I’m not sure where I read it, but “persistence plus passion equals success” is my favorite motto. I also love so many quotes from Winston Churchill and Henry Ford. This one quote, in particular, from Henry Ford is just so motivating. He said, “Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.” It’s just so beautiful.

Thanks, Angela! We’d be happy to travel to Peru with you!

It’s wonderful to see Latina illustrators have prominence in children’s literature, and that as visual storytellers they have broken new ground—from Mexican myths to remaking classic fairy tales.

We thank and celebrate Yuyi Morales, Alejandra Oviedo, and Angela Dominguez for opening the worldview of children everywhere.

Club Leo en Español supports your classroom with fun and affordable books that connect children’s home language and learning. Our books include amazing series, original titles, and winners of the Pura Belpré Award, which celebrates the remarkable contributions of artists who give voice to the Latino community through children’s literature.

Club Leo en Español apoya tu salón de clases con libros divertidos y asequibles que conectan la lengua materna y el aprendizaje de los niños. Nuestra colección incluye increíbles series, títulos originales y ganadores del Premio Pura Belpré, que celebra los extraordinarios aportes de artistas que dan voz a la comunidad latina a través de la literatura infantil.

Oct 16 2014

Book Review: Violet by Alidis Vicente

By Sujei Lugo

DESCRIPTION: “Violet is a bright and colorful story set in the Galápagos Islands. Told entirely from the point of view of the animals that live there, this is the tale of a unique baby bird named Violet. Violet’s mother is a Red-Footed Booby, and Violet’s father is a Blue-Footed Booby. Their baby, Violet, is the first one of her kind, a Purple-Footed Booby, and she displays characteristics of both species. Violet’s red footed and blue footed relatives, however, don’t notice her similarities at first, just her differences, and they don’t see how she will ever fit in. Through the kindly intervention of a wise old Galápagos Tortoise, the birds all learn an important lesson about acceptance, and Violet shows off a new dance that is the best of all of them”

MY TWO CENTS: Through the voices of talking animals, Alidis Vicente brings us a rhyming children’s book about prejudice and acceptance. Nancy Cote’s illustrations, founded on acrylic paintings and a pastel colors palette, supports the sympathetic approach of the story. This is the second collaboration between Vicente and Cote, and is one of those children’s books that uses animals to provide a voice of justice and a moral tale at the end.

The story is set in the Galápagos Islands and is told from the perspective of those who have heard the tale about this place “where nature is untouched” and where two group of birds were “forced to pick a side.” Readers are immediately introduced to the biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands and how animals “ruled the land.” Violet was like no other animal that lived on those islands. She was a purple-footed booby, the offspring a blue-footed booby (father) and red-footed booby (mother), who grew up mingling with their own. Her parents defied their social roles and barriers and decided to start a family, thus a baby seabird named Violet was born. The new family returned to their hometown, where the news of a “mixed seabird” was taken as “horrific,” a disgrace, and a baby whose feet “shouldn’t be on land.” In the midst of this outrage, an old, wise tortoise interferes to bring sense to chaos and acknowledge that Violet is different, a descendant of a red-footed and blue-footed booby. Violet proceeds to show her skills, changing the mood and reception of fellow animals, providing actions for the tortoise’s final statement: “THIS makes the Galápagos complete.”

Alidis Vicente uses the opportunity to talk about prejudice and differences and successfully moves beyond the tired “we are all the same” trope. Through a simple story, she challenges colorblindness and provides the characters of this narrative (and readers) the lens to acknowledge differences among their habitats (communities). It is then that communities should work to challenge, minimize and, finally, eradicate prejudice and oppression due to our differences. Although books with talking animals may hinder children in the understanding of social issues, adults can play a role in guiding children to situate what was discussed to their own lives and their surroundings.

TEACHING TIPS: Violet is a great picture book for K-3 grade students and it successfully intersects Language Arts, Science, and Art. Language Arts teachers can incorporate this book in their classrooms and provide students the opportunity to learn new words, while enriching their vocabulary regarding fauna terms, verbs, and adjectives. The book includes a glossary with definitions and pronunciations of some words used in the story. Teachers can also give meaning to those new words and the story’s plot by encouraging a discussion around prejudice and differences.

Science teachers can use the book to teach students about different species, habitats, and biodiversity. The book incorporates several illustrations of different animals with their specific physical attributes. In collaboration with Art class, students can draw and paint images of sea lions, iguanas, seabirds, and whales, while learning about their distinctive features, habitats, and endangered species.

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Alidis Vicente is a stay-at-home mom from New Jersey who began writing children’s books once her son was born. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked for New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services before focusing on her career as a writer. Vicente is the author of The Coquí and the Iguana (2011), The Missing Chancleta and Other Top Secret Cases (2013). The Missing Chancleta won first place in the Best Youth Chapter Fiction Book (Spanish/Bilingual Category) in the 2014 International Latino Book Awards. You can also read her guest post on Latin@s in Kid Lit.

Nancy Cote is a children’s books author and illustrator from Massachusetts who earned her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Her books have won several awards including the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award, 1996 Notable Children’s Trade Book from The Children’s Book Council and the National Council for Social Studies, Florida Reading Association Children’s Book Award, SSLI 1999 Honor Book, She has illustrated various picture books, such as Flip-Flops (1998), I Like Your Buttons! (1999), Hamster Camp: How Harry Got Fit (2004), Mrs. Fickle’s Pickles (2006), Ella and the All-Stars (2013) and Watch the Cookie! (2014).

For more information about Violet, visit your local library or bookstore. It’s also available in amazon.com

Alidis Vicente

Nancy Cote

Oct 15 2014

Pitch Fiesta Update: 15 Writers Matched with Mentors to Prepare for the Event

We’re excited to provide an update on Latin@s in Kid Lit’s first Pitch Fiesta. The deadline for submissions was October 3. We received 21 entries and reduced that number to 15 viable contenders representing middle grade and young adult–realistic, science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, LGBTQ, and Southern Gothic.

So, here’s the thing. We had no idea how many entries to expect. I (Cindy) thought we’d get maybe a half-dozen, which the LiKL crew could easily manage to review and prepare for pitching. So, when we ended up with 15!! viable entries, we flashed the bat signal at our kid lit writer friends. For those of you who don’t know, the kid lit community is awesome, and in no time, we had enough people ready to mentor our writers.

Here’s the process: Each mentor has been matched with a writer. The mentor will review the writer’s query and first pages with a critical eye. The mentor will email comments, thoughts, questions, concerns, suggestions, etc. to the writer. The two will work to make the query and first pages as clean and agent-ready as possible. Polished queries will be posted on our site on November 12-13 for the agents’ review. We hope “I’ve got to have it” type sparks will fly and matches will be made between writers and agents! These sparks of love over a manuscript will eventually lead to more books by and about Latin@s!

For now, though, there’s work to be done. Still, we wanted to publicly say, THANK YOU!!! to the authors who stepped up to help! Many are members of the Fearless Fifteeners, the Diversity League, and/or the We Need Diverse Books Team. They all support diversity in children’s literature and want to “pay forward” the help they received on the path to publishing. Below are all of the mentors. Names and titles match with photos going lef to right. If you click on the photos, you will be taken to the authors’ websites for more information.

Cindy L. Rodriguez: WHEN REASON BREAKS (Bloomsbury)

Ashley Hope Pérez: WHAT CAN’T WAIT and THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY (Carolrhoda Books)

Zoraida Córdova: THE VICIOUS DEEP trilogy (Sourcebooks Fire) and LUCK ON THE LINE (Diversion Books)

Heather Marie: THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME (Curiosity Quills Press)

Kelly Jones: UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Erin Entrada Kelly: BLACKBIRD FLY (Greenwillow Books)

A.L. Sonnichsen: RED BUTTERFLY (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Anna-Marie McLemore: THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS (Thomas Dunne)

Ronald L. Smith: HOODOO (Clarion)

Kerry O’Malley Cerra: JUST A DROP OF WATER (Sky Pony Press)

Dhonielle Clayton: TINY PRETTY THINGS (HarperTeen) and THE BELLES (Disney-Hyperion)

Holly Bodger: 5 TO 1 (Knopf Books for Young Readers)