When I was a little girl, my younger brother and I listened often to a beloved record of old cowboy songs. Growing up in Idaho, we had real live cowboys walking down the street and we were fascinated by them and by the outlaws of the Old West. My favorite song on the album was...
I have a flash drive that is shaped like Speedy Gonzales. The other day, I was conducting a school visit and one of the students said, “What is that?” “This?” I said. “It’s Speedy Gonzales. Don’t you recognize him?” He did not. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a 21st century kid wouldn’t recognize...
Recently, I heard a new author speak about his book. He casually mentioned he was a Black/Latino writer. As he continued his story, I pieced together that his father was Puerto Rican and his mother was black. I asked him afterward if he identified as black or Latino. He said both. He said as a...
January 27 is Multicultural Children’s Book Day, and it brings me around to an interesting conversation that’s underway in the publishing community–whether anyone has the right to tell stories outside of their race or culture. I have friends whose story ideas have lately been turned down because they wanted to write about a race different...