KIDS
SUN/4/18 :: 12:00p
L.A. Times en Español Presents a Bilingual Children’s Picture Book Panel
Perfect for the whole family – parents, teachers, kids!
Bookseller: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
L.A. Times en Español writer Angel Rodriguez hosts a stimulating conversation with children’s authors/illustrators Jacqueline Alcántara, Monica Brown, Juana Martinez-Neal and NoNieqa Ramos as they discuss their new picture books and talk about representation and the importance of youngsters seeing themselves reflected in children’s literature. This is a must-watch for parents, teachers and kids!
Angel Rodriguez
Angel Rodriguez works on special projects at the Los Angeles Times, including coordinating with Los Angeles Times en Español to develop plans to better serve Southern California’s Spanish-speaking market. Rodriguez is also rethinking Las Vegas coverage, continuing his work on creating a print desk and helping the team working on the newsroom’s content management system. Rodriguez was previously an assistant managing editor and oversaw the News Desk’s multiplatform editors, who program the home page and mobile app, and the audience engagement editors. He joined The Times as Sports editor in 2015 after spending a year as a deputy editor for mobile innovation at the Washington Post. Prior to joining the Post, he spent two years as sports editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He has also worked at the Arizona Republic, ESPN.com and MLB.com. Rodriguez was born in Chicago but raised in Houston and is a graduate of the University of Texas-Austin.
Jacqueline Alcántara
Jacqueline Alcántara is a freelance illustrator and artist who spends her days drawing, writing and globe-trotting with her dog Possum. She is particularly excited about promoting inclusiveness and diversity in children’s literature and the illustration field in general. Her debut picture book, The Field, written by Baptiste Paul, was named a Best Book of 2018 by School Library Journal, Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, and Shelf Awareness. Freedom Soup, written by Tami Charles, has been named a Kids IndieNext Pick, a Kirkus Best Book of 2019, and has received four starred reviews. Her newest book Your Mama, which she co-authored with NoNieqa Ramos.
Once Upon A Time Bookstore
Please support our local bookseller for this panel. Signed bookplates will be available from most authors. Purchase HERE.
Monica Brown
Monica Brown has written twenty acclaimed picture books, including the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor-winning Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match, as well as the Lola Levine and Sarai chapter book series. Most of her stories are inspired by her desire to bring diverse stories to children and by her own mixed heritage, which includes Peruvian, Scottish, Spanish, Amerindian, and Jewish ancestry. When not writing for children, Brown serves as a professor of English at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches about US Latino and multicultural literature. Brown lives with her family in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her website is monicabrown.net.
Juana Martinez-Neal
Juana Martinez-Neal is the Peruvian-born daughter and granddaughter of painters. Her debut as an author-illustrator, Alma and How She Got Her Name, was awarded a Caldecott Honor and was published in Spanish as Alma y cómo obtuvo su nombre. She also illustrated La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya, for which she won a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, Babymoon by Hayley Barrett, and Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, which won a Robert F. Her new book is Zonia’s Rain Forest. Sibert Medal. Juana Martinez-Neal lives in Arizona with her family. Visit her online at www.juanamartinezneal.com.
NoNieqa Ramos
NoNieqa Ramos is an educator who wrote The Disturbed Girls Dictionary, a 2018 New York Public Library Best Book for Teens, a 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection, and a 2019 In the Margins Award Top Ten pick. It earned starred reviews from Booklist, Voya, and Foreword. Hip Latina named her sophomore book The Truth Is in10 of the Best Latinx Young Adult Books of 2019, and Remezcla included it in the 15 Best Books by Latino and Latin American Authors of 2019. Her just-released new book is Your Mama, coauthored with Jacqueline Alcantara. You might find NoNieqa in Virginia salsa dancing with her soulmate and her children Prince Lango Tango and PrincX Rainbow Cat.