We're excited to welcome Brentom Jackson to the KLiC blog just in time for Easter. KLiC: What was your inspiration for Elijah’s Easter Suit? BJ: I wanted a character name that represented the human capacity for boldness, innovation, and inventiveness. Elijah McCoy, the engineer and inventor for whom the term “the real McCoy” was coined, came to mind. Applying that attitude to fashion design spurred the idea of “Elijah’s Easter Suit.” KLiC: What are your favorite illustrations by Emmanuel Boateng? BJ: I love the illustration spread on pages 15-16. Elijah connects with his ancestors after discovering a box of old clothing in the closet. This is such a powerful depiction of “Sankofa,” looking at our past so that we may move forward. KLiC: What’s the one thing you want children to take away from your book? BJ: If you don’t see the things you want in the world (e.g., clothing, shoes, books, movies, games) go out and make them. KLiC: Do you have any tips for pre-published authors? BJ: Focus on deepening your connections in the writing community and developing craft. The rest will come in time. KLiC: What’s next for you? BJ: Deepening my connections in the writing community and continuing to develop my craft. Brentom Jackson is an award-winning spoken-word artist, classically trained actor, and licensed psychotherapist practicing in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. With poetic voice, theatrical flair, and socio-emotional expertise Brentom writes stories that explore the universal lessons within Black-American history and heritage. With the hope of inspiring readers from all communities to celebrate their culture and cultivate their creativity.
Elijah’s Easter Suit is published by Random House Children's Books/January 23, 2024 KidLit in Color: Hello Omar, thank you for answering our questions! What was your inspiration for The Book That Almost Rhymed? Omar Abed: When I wrote this book, I was actually pitching a completely different book to publishers. Some of the feedback I heard for that other story was that it "rhymed too much", or that the rhyme didn't enhance the story. My agent recommended I try to write a non-rhyming story, but no matter how hard I tried, my brain kept defaulting to rhyme... or things that sounded like they almost rhymed. This story was born with the opening page repeating in my mind. "The other day, I wrote this book. You won't believe how long it took..." From there, I discovered the plot. It's kind of a backwards writing process, but it worked out here! KLiC: What are your favorite illustrations in the book? OA: I have so many! Hatem Aly did such an amazing job with this book. Something that caught my eye early in the sketching process was how Hatem added imaginary costumes on the characters as see-through overlays. It helped demonstrate how the characters were really traveling through their imaginations. The story starts out kind of bland and explodes into color as their imaginations develop the story around them. I think Hatem did an amazing job capturing that. Here are some illustrations to show what I mean: OA: You can see how the setting slowly builds around them, and their adorable see-through costumes helping them play pretend. I just thought it was all so well done.
KLiC: What’s the one thing you want children to take away from your book? OA: You said one thing, but I'll give you two. At a surface level, I hope this book helps children discover a love for reading with their parents. I see the way my son latches onto a good book and wants to re-read it, and I hope kids and parents love this book enough that they're both excited to re-read it together. But at a deeper level, I hope this book subtly teaches kids to embrace their siblings / friends in ways that don't come immediately natural to them. In this story, the siblings are in constant conflict over the story, until they realize that maybe both of them were helping the story along in their own way. When we can learn to communicate on another person's level, we can understand them better and empower them. KLiC: What’s next for you? OA: More books! My next book (which hasn't formally been announced yet... shh...) touches on my background as a software developer. In this story, a software bug infects a young boy's book, and the boy (along with a helpful cast of characters) must learn how to stop the bug from destroying his story. No formal timeline yet, but follow me at @OmarAbedWrites for updates. An announcement about that one should go out soon, including the title and illustrator! KLiC: Is there anything you want readers to know about you or your book(s)? I think it's funny that I never planned to write picture books. I enjoyed poetry and music (to a normal degree, like anyone else), but the rhythms and lyrics in each of those somehow led me to children's books. To me, I don't draw hard lines between different writing mediums. It's more of a continuum, a spectrum, than distinct art forms, in my opinion. Who's to say a book can't be sung, or that it needs to have words at all? People are so unique, and their stories should reflect that. Sometimes I have to find the right medium to deliver certain stories, which is why I write across genres (YA, picture book, poetry) and don't consider myself "one type" of author. We're thrilled to welcome Paola Santos on the blog to discuss her upcoming book, How to Eat a Mango with illustrations by Juliana Perdomo. What was your inspiration for How to Eat a Mango? My inspiration for How to Eat a Mango was my abuelita, my grandmother, and everything it means to return to my roots in Venezuela, the country I was born and raised in. I remember my Abuelita, sitting in the backyard of our house, completely immersed in the experience of eating a mango. Every time she offered me one, I would refuse, but I also remember watching her and wishing I liked them as much as she did. In Venezuela, the matriarchal presence is crucial. Mothers and grandmothers are the center of the home. My Abuelita lived with us. She had a strong character and was always bustling around the house. Abuelita wasn't as sweet as Carmencita's grandmother, the protagonist of my book. Still, every time she ate a mango, it was like watching a poem in motion: her delight, eyes closed enjoying every bite, hands bathed in pulp, her fingers and teeth opening the mango skin. I love that memory! In those days, however, mangoes meant work for me, picking them up when they fell heavily from the tree, breaking and scattering across our yard. The rancid smell of the sun-drenched rotten mangoes was a sensory assault. The ripest ones were squashed, becoming a feast for the bugs waiting for something to eat. But it wasn't all unpleasant. There were moments when I enjoyed watching the come and go of our neighbors, acquaintances, or even some occasional passersby who would take away bags of mangoes. That act of sharing and community has been a memory that has also been imprinted in my mind. Today, mangoes have taken on a different meaning for me. The memories of work or foul smells have been replaced by nostalgias, nostalgia for knowing I won't enjoy those moments with my abuelita again, and the nostalgia for knowing that perhaps I won't be able to return to my country and see it prosperous and full of dreams like in the memories of my childhood. Please tell us about your writing process. How long did it take you to write and sell this book? I had never thought about this! First, I daydream and search through the nooks of my memory and emotions for what filled me and made me reflect when I was a child. After that, I crawl under my sheets and write in my notebook. I let the words come to me in an endless mix of Spanglish without looking at grammar or spelling rules. I let out, first, what I remember and then loose ideas that could serve as the foundation of a story. This part is very intuitive. When I finally have a picture of the structure and the beginning/end of the story, it's time to go to my computer. There, I shake off my ideas, remove the excess, and write them down. Ready to subject them to a long rewriting process that varies with each story. In this process, I evaluate the technical aspects, the rhythm, and the musicality (which I love to apply to my manuscripts) and the layers that can add depth. After that, I rely on the help of my fabulous critique partners, who help me see things that have gone unnoticed. Then comes the best part, working with my agent in a back-and-forth of ideas that bring out the best in each of my words. Phew, it's a long process, which tires me out just writing about it. "How to Eat a Mango" was four years in the making, from the initial idea to its publication, which is slowly approaching! The moment that helped me find this memory was in 2021, during Tara Lazar's Storystorm, which I'm sure most of you are familiar with. That specific exercise was about exploring How-to's. Immediately, the image of my abuelita eating a mango came to mind, and I couldn't let it go. Right away, I started working on it, dedicating approximately a year to the process I described above until my agent and I considered it ready and started the submission process. The waiting period after that varies from one manuscript to another. With "How to Eat a Mango," I consider myself lucky. In 2022, a month after starting the submission process, Neal Porter Books made me an offer. The book will finally be released on July 16, 2024. This year! I cannot wait to see it out in the world and connect with readers. I hope you enjoy reading it! What are your favorite illustrations in the book? All of them are my favorites! Now, if I had to choose, I would choose the moment when Abuelita speaks to Carmencita about the sensation of tasting a mango. The first time I saw this illustration by the talented Juliana Perdomo, I cried. Seeing the joropo, the national dance of Venezuela, I felt the same as Carmencita. My heart seemed to beat with the stomping, the movements of the skirts, the sounds of the cuatro and maracas. It was an indescribable experience. But what moved me the most was how well the emotions of my words were conveyed in it. The music, the sweetness, and the culture are palpable in this spread. What’s the one thing you want children to take away from your book? I hope they take away a deep sense of respect toward nature and family and how they connect with every aspect of our lives. With this story, I wish young readers would slow down, pay attention to their surroundings, and treasure the moments that make their lives unique and fantastic. My goal with this book is to build a bridge between these moments and the present so they can create future memories. Paola Santos is a children's book author born and raised in Venezuela. After moving to Canada, she found the courage to share the words and stories that had long been enclosed in her imagination. Her stories are now woven with her culture, experience in a new country, hope, happiness, and diversity. Paola holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in Literature and Children's Literature and Reading Promotion. Her debut picture book, How to Eat a Mango (Holiday House), illustrated by Juliana Perdomo, will be released on July 16, 2024.
You can learn more about Paola here. Twitter & Instagram: @pgsantosb. To preorder How to Eat a Mango visit here. Interior from How to Eat a Mango. Text copyright © 2024 by Paola Santos. Illustrations copyright © 2024 by Juliana Perdomo. Reproduced with permission from Holiday House Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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