Meet Isabel Campoy and her latest book - Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood

I was thinking about the many kinds of riches and for me the foremost is the richness of relationships. I've been fortunate enough to know Isabel Campoy who along with her partner in love and literacy Alma Flor Ada, have been instrumental in bringing about diversity in children's literature for many years. They've used an asset approach by highlighting the beauty, humor, depth and broadness of Latino culture as exemplified in Maybe Something Beautiful: How art transformed a neighborhood that Isabel shares in this interview. I hope that you feel the love that Isabel shares in her life and work and that I've been a grateful recipient of for over 20 years now.

Here's the less than 12 minute video, followed by a little about Isabel and some of her other books.

Isabel Campoy has published over 175 books, and received many awards, such as being honored multiple times as an ALA Notable, the San Francisco Library Award, the Reading the World Award from the University of San Francisco, the NABE Ramón Santiago Award, the International Latino Children’s Book Award, while nine of books have been Junior Library Guild selections. She is also an academic and educator who has specialized in literacy, home school interaction, and language acquisition, areas in which she has both published and presented on since l973. You can find out more about Isabel at http://isabelcampoy.com  You can also find out more about Maybe Something Beautiful here.

And while Isabel has been much honored for her smarts and creativity, it's her heart that speaks most in her children's books such as these below, many of which she has co-authored with Alma Flor in true partnership.

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Mira Reisberg has worn just about every hat in the industry including art director, editor, and literary agent. Mira holds a PhD in Education and Cultural Studies with a focus on children's literature. She is also an award-winning children's book illustrator and writer. You can receive a rare live one-hour critique with Mira (or her co-teacher the fabulous Kelly Delaney, an acquiring assistant editor at Random House/Knopf) in the upcoming Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books starting May 16th 2016.

If you'd like to leave some kind words for Isabel Campoy or me or share this post, we'd love it!!