We're all to all familiar with making New Years Resolutions. I've made many in the past - some lofty and some little in almost every area of my life. Filled with good intentions, I sometimes manage to overwhelm myself into inactivity by the length of my list. This year, I'm going to choose just a couple of resolutions for each important part of my life and accomplish them quarterly. But first things first, the brainstorm: Writer's Resolutions 1. Write more 2. Read more picture books 3. Read more chapter books 4. Finish 2 unfinished manuscripts 5. Join a genre specific critique group 6. Find 2 great critique buddies 7. Attend a writers course or workshop 8. Attend a writers conference 9. Attend a writers retreat 10. Brainstorm a list of story ideas 11. Submit my strongest manuscript to agent X 12. Submit my strongest manuscript to publisher X 13. Re-write my weakest manuscript from a different point-of-view 14. Pause to pay more attention to what kids are saying and doing 15. Visit the library more 16. Visit the kids' section of the book store more My top 2 picks for 2017 happen to be #1 and #7! 1. Write more: Write on Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00am-10:30am beginning January 2nd 7. Attend a writer's course or workshop: By March 31st, here's the course I'm going to attend. It just happens to be one of Mira's, How To Self-Publish With Crowdfunding If I can accomplish these two goals in the first quarter of the year, first I'll celebrate with a slice of chocolate cake! Then, I'll choose two new goals from the list for the second quarter. What are your writer's resolutions for for 2017? Carol Higgins-Lawrence wrote her first story at the age of five. Her father paid her a quarter for it and she's been writing ever since. She's taken a variety of courses in writing for children. Multicultural perspectives are of particular interest to her. Carol is of Jamaican descent and was born and raised in Canada. She has a BA in Communications and Sociology and she has completed coursework towards a MA in TESOL. She has worked as a literacy educator for the past 15 years. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two young children. You can visit her website at carolhl.weebly.com
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Ever since, I was a kid, I got into the habit of designing my own Christmas card. First, I sent out my own to my pals at school(printed in the art room at school), then I designed cards for my family, and before long, I was designing cards for local businesses in my little home town. It is a habit that I have been unable to break. Even if I try to not send out cards, my friends write me scolding letters asking where their Christmas card is. This complicated process involves designing the card, getting it printed, signing the cards, then addressing the envelopes and attaching postage (lately, I have taken to designing my own stamps for the North Pole Post Office) can take up a great deal of time at a very busy time of the year. But I dedicate cozy evenings to the process, putting on Christmas music and burning evergreen candles, that have become a very inspiring and fun time. I have attached several of my cards from over the years. Some of these feature characters from books that have been released in that past year. Enjoy! Once this is posted, I will get back to my desk where a pile of envelopes and cards are waiting for me. The earliest of these date back to 1996 and the most recent is this card inspired by my little red poodle, Ogbert.
By the way, happy holidays and I hope that 2017 is a terrific year for each of you! The power of identification: Latinos in picture books Almost 25% of American children are Latino, but books that depict Latinos comprise fewer than 3% of total books published for children. And out of that 3%, what images are we seeing? And who is creating these images? Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner (Dutton Children’s Books, 2003) has been the focus of many heated debates; he's a cat who fantasizes about being a Chihuahua and speaks in a made-up pidgin Spanish that could be described as mocking Mexican people in the tradition of characters such as Speedy Gonzalez, the Frito Bandito, and the Taco Bell Chihuahua. "Oh, my name is Skippito Friskito (clap-clap) / And I hunt for the dinosaur-ito (clap-clap) / With gigantico ears / That’s been buried for years / Under layers of sediment-ito.” (clap-clap)" Speaking English in an accent borrowed directly from Charo, Skippyjon sings about banditos, rice and beans, fiestas and siestas. This is what the white world of publishing has to offer? Books that depict Latino culture with stereotypical images and tell us that Mexican accents are hilarious?We can do better. Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Robert Casilla (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996) does a nice job of depicting a mixed-race (Latino/Jewish) child who is not tortured by his ethnic background. Many books about racially mixed children show the child as teased by others, not fitting into either group, wishing he were one race or the other. Pablo is doing just fine, speaking Spanish and Yiddish and baking breads and pastries from both the Mexican and Jewish cultures that his parents bring to the family. Jalapeno Bagels has real recipes from the Los Bagels Bakery & Cafe in Arcata, California in the back and a wonderful glossary for all of the Spanish and Yiddish words used in the book. The illustrations are a bit staid for my taste, indicating to the reader that this is a serious topic. I would prefer something lighter and more celebratory, as the text is not about conflict, but about happily embracing the richness of the two cultures Pablo comes from. A much more joyful and celebratory book is Tito Puente: Mambo King by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rafael Lopez (Rayo, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2013). A gorgeous bilingual story about musician Tito Puente, Tito Puente: Mambo King truly exemplifies the mirror and window that a thoughtfully created Latino picture book can be. No one is being mocked or belittled, it's just a pure and beautiful story about a talented musician who followed his dream of leading his own band. Dream Drum Girl by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael Lopez (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015) is another incredibly beautiful book about a little Cuban girl who challenged the gender roles in 1930s Cuba and became the first female drummer in Cuba's first all-girl dance band. Stunning illustrations in acrylic paint on wood board show us the beauty of Cuba and the beauty of having a dream. Books like Dream Drum Girl show us that Latino stories are strong and beautiful and valuable and that we all have dreams. Mocking a race and a language dehumanizes and firmly places Latinos in the category of "other," while celebrating the dreams that all people have shows us that we share so much in common with each other. For next month's post and moving forward, please send me questions and topics that you would like to discuss that involve libraries, books, diversity, and the children's literature community. fifiabuillustration@gmail.com
Fifi Abu spends her days surrounded by books that have already been created and the rest of her time writing and illustrating books yet to be born. She looks forward to a day when all children can see themselves reflected in the books they read. Ms. Abu holds a master's degree in children's literature and a master's degree in library science, is an active member of SCBWI and a Children's Book Academy graduate. www.fifiabu.com |
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