Multicultural Children's Literature
A 10-month Author Study
November: Monica Brown
photo from Monica Brown.net
I have many biracial and bilingual students in my class, so I wanted to include an author whose work features characters that reflect this heritage. Monica Brown is just such an author. Raised by a Peruvian mother and a Scottish father, growing up Brown didn't always feel like she fit in. Her excellent Marisol McDonald books are based on her own experiences growing up biracial and bilingual. Today, Brown lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and teaches Latino literature at Northern Arizona University. Brown writes:
I write from a place of deep passion, joy, and commitment to producing the highest possible quality of literature for children. In my biographies, the lives of my subjects are so interesting and transformational that I am simply giving them voice for a young audience. I don't think it is ever too early to introduce children to the concepts of magical realism, social justice, and dreaming big!
-from MonicaBrown.net
Brown has won many awards for her Children's literature, including the Americas award for children's literature and the Pura Belpre award for two of her biographies, My Name is Gabito (about Gabriel Garcia Marquez) and My name is/Me llamo Celia (about Celia Cruz). She has also written biographies for children about the lives of Tito Puente, Pele, Pablo Neruda, Pablo Picasso, Gabriela Mistral, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
Below: Monica Brown and illustrator Rafael Lopez discuss writing Latino children's literature and their book
Tito Puente: Mambo King / Rey de Mambo.
video from Youtube.com
I've found biographies to be a useful and engaging way of teaching kindergarten history and social science standards, which require students to understand that history relates to people in other times. The students enjoy hearing biographies and, as with many of Faith Ringgold's books, they are extremely curious about books set in earlier times. Most of Brown's books are bilingual, featuring text in both English and Spanish. As I read I call on my Spanish speaking students to explain key Spanish vocabulary words to the rest of class, and they enjoy their moment in the spotlight as our resident Spanish experts! Monica Brown works with a variety of award-winning illustrators, but what all her books have in common are bright and imaginative illustrations that the students are excited by. She has been a very popular author with our class and it's hard to pick favorites - the books below are just a few of her excellent titles!
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina
2011 Children's Book Press, San Francisco
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Sara Palacios
image from Monica Brown.net
Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bang / Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual
2013 Children's Book Press, San Francisco
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Sara Palacios
image from Monica Brown.net
Waiting for the Biblioburro
2010 Random House, New York
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by John Parra
image from Monica Brown.net
My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2007 Rising Moon Books, Flagstaff
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Raul Colon
image from Monica Brown.net
Tito Puente: Mambo King / Rey del Mambo
2013 Harper Collins, New York
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Rafael Lopez
image from TeachingBooks.net
Chavela and the Magic Bubble
2010 Clarion Books
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Magaly Morales
image from Monica Brown.net
Wonderful Books by Monica Brown
Anyone who has worked with kindergarteners knows that at (what feels like) all times they have an irrepressable urge to sing, clap, dance, and stomp their feet, so it only stands to reason that they LOVED this book. The words, pictures, and sounds were exciting, and most had never heard of Tito Puente before. I played them some songs and videos of Tito Puente, including this Sesame Street performance (below), and most could not resist the impulse to get up and dance. A very fun read!
See also Brown's Pelé, King of Soccer/Pelé, el rey del fútbol for another exciting biography.
Waiting for the Biblioburro tells the story of Ana, a young girl in a remote village who loves to read. The only school teacher has moved away, and Ana has no books to read until a man rides into town with his two donkeys - the biblioburro. he loans Ana books and inspires her to write her own. The story is based on a real traveling librarian in Colombia named Luis Soriano. The story inspired some very thoughtful discussion in the students. I asked them, "How would you feel if you couldn't go to school? If you could pick just one book while you waited for the biblioburro, what would it be?" Many made a connection with the bookmobile that had visited their preschool.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my favorite authors, so I was excited to share this biography with the class. It tells the story of his childhood in Colombia and some of the experiences that influenced him as a writer. Brown writes that the more words he learned, people he met, and things he saw, the more stories he told. After reading this story and Waiting for the Biblioburro, we did a shared write as a class (see lesson plan below). The story the kindergarten came up with was quite imaginative, titled The Boy Who Could Fly - inspired I think by Tar Beach and Chavela and the Magic Bubble.
This story was a wonderful follow up to our Tar Beach art project, and the first of Monica Brown's books that I shared with the class. Chavela is a little girl who loves to chew gum. One day she buys a package of Magic Chicle, and she blows a bubble with the gum so big that it lifts her off of the ground and she travels over the United States to her grandmother's village in Mexico. I showed the students on our map how far Chavela had traveled. They loved the story and the bright, beautiful illustrations. They also had a heated debate over the ending - was the little girl she met in Mexico really her abuelita? Had she traveled back in time? Some were adamant, and others were not convinced. Either way it's good for them to practice supporting their case with evidence!
My students enjoyed the Marisol McDonald character and thought her mismatched ways were quite humerous. Marisol, like Brown herself, is bilingual and multiracial, and she delights in being "unique, different, and one of a kind." She speaks in Spanish and in English, her clothes never match, and she even mixes her foods - the class thought her invention of a peanut butter and jelly burrito was hysterical. They were also excited to share what made them special - where they from, languages that they could speak, and other talents that made them unique. I used this story to teach about characters, as Marisol is an interesting one. A a class we created a character map, which we added to after reading the sequel, Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bang. See the lesson plan below.
Marisol McDonald Lesson Plan
Many of my students could relate to Marisol's dilemma in this sequel. Marisol is planning her eighth birthday party (the theme of the party, of course, is every theme). She want to invite her Abuelita in Peru, and has even saved up some money for her ticket. Her mother explains that travel between countries is complicated, and that visas take time to acquire. On the day of the party, Marisol does see her granmother - on the computer! One of my students shared that he too has skyped with his grandmother in the Philippines and another said that her family can face-time with family in Mexico. This is a very modern and relatable story that addresses the way technology has made communication with loved ones possible from afar.