Even though this year was a complicated one based on the pandemic and some personal problems, I have to be extra thankful.

If you have been following my journey, you know that at the end of 2019, I got my first offer for my story BELLA’S RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (Illustrated by Geraldine Rodriguez), coming out in July 2021 by Beaming Books – editor Naomi Krueger. I do owe a big thanks to all my critique partners and Lynne Marie, who helped shape this story into a fun story about having a growth-mindset and making mistakes. Then I got my agent – Andrea Walker. And then, 2020.

Andrea submitted my story “IF YOUR BABYSITTER IS A BRUJA”  to some editors, including Alyza Liu from SimonKids, who requested my manuscript during my class with Children’s Book Academy – Golden Ticket. My book just got announced, and now I can say a big thanks to Mira Reisberg for helping me with this story so much during her class. She motivated me to include more Spanish words and helped me with many critiques during our live sessions—Muchas gracias, Mira, and Children’s Book Academy. The book will come out during the Summer of 2022, and another Brazilian – Irena Freitas, will illustrate it. 

Then I worked on another manuscript. Even though I can’t announce its sale yet, I can say it was inspired by my superhero Mami and her relationship with my superhero son Luis Eduardo Duran. This manuscript got stuck for a while, and I have to say a big thanks to Heidi Stemple for helping me figure out how to get it unstuck. This book got sold, and more details (very surprising!!) will be announced when possible. But I can say that I was thrilled to sell this book to an amazing editor, and a fantastic illustrator will illustrate it. More news are coming soon. Well, probably not too soon. 

This year, I also started working on learning about Chapter Books. And I repeated the lesson learned with my Picture Books: take time to learn the craft before rushing to submit it. I took two classes, one with Marcie Colleen with The Writing Barn (thanks for the partial scholarship) and one with Highlight Foundations (thanks for the scholarship) with Debbie Michiko Florence (Jasmine Toguchi Series) and Kashmira Sheth (Nani series). I read many, many chapter books. I wrote the first draft. Then I did a study hall with Marcie Colleen and four more fabulous critique partners. I am now submitting it to my critique partners and getting ready to submit it to my agent in January. 

But, of course, I couldn’t have done that without help from so many, many people. The Writing Community is Amazing- Fantastica. I am in many different critique groups, and I am thankful to all of them, but I am especially grateful to

1.  My weekly group that keeps me writing and revising every month – Kim Larson, Ashley Cogdon, Shannon Howarth, Sarah Meade, and Sarah Kirkpatrick. Maryna Doughty, Marianna Llanos, Jarmila Kurucova. 
2. My monthly group that keeps inspiring me with their amazing stories – Bonnie Kelso, Vasilia Graboski, Sande Roberts
3. My super talented group – Las Chicas Latinas -Kaitlyn Sanchez, Shirley Espada-Richey, Sara Fajardo, Rachel Funez, Aixa Perez-Prado, Donna B. Higuera, Zoraida Rivera Morales, Maria Antonia, Melanie Sheppard, Kelly Lundbland.
4. Las Musas, where I found support to keep writing my Latinx books and got invited to participate in Latinx Kidlit Book Festival.
5. My Debut Group 21fortheBooks has helped me to start thinking about marketing and promoting my book. There are so many fantastic authors, and everybody helps each other. 
6. My Latinxpitch group that worked hard to help Latinx creators get a chance to shine and represent more latinx kids in our stories. 
7. Thanks to Harold Undertown and Eileen Robinson for helping me out, during their Picture Book advanced course, on a manuscript I hope to submit soon,
8. And, of course, my super-agent Andrea Walker, who not only believes in my stories but also helps me to get them into shape to be sent to publishers. 
9. And to so many others who swapped manuscripts with me, who motivated me, who supported me. Sorry, if I did not include your name, but I am thankful to you, be sure. 

All these achievements meant nothing when my older son got sick and hospitalized. But again, the writing community got together and prayed for him and cheered me up. I did take over a month’s break. Now my son is getting better, and I am trying to get back on track and submit another story in January/February. 

But here, I want to leave you with some hope since I know this business can be challenging. If you focus on learning your craft, having fun, working with critique partners, one day, Voila… You will find that one YES that we all need. 

“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”  John Wooden:

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” – Jonas Salk.

Here a little bit about this Brazilian-American-English girl and her path on becoming an AMAZING picture book writer.

Her Childhood in Brazil,

United States and England.

I had a happy and pretty interesting childhood. I was born in Brasilia, and when I was a month old, my mom and I moved to the United States to join my dad who was at Cornell University, working on his doctor’s degree. Three years later we moved back to Brazil. When I was seven, we moved again, this time to England. We lived there for only two years, but that experience impacted me profoundly. Living in England allowed us to travel all over Europe and exposed me to a lot of art and history, two of my favorite things! It certainly influenced my interests and taste, and it helped shape the person I became. 

Finding

the Agent.

When I finished writing my middle-grade novel I thought, Okay, what do I do now? I did my research and found SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). I became a member and joined a critique group. I queried my (terrible) MG around the same time and only got rejections. But in 2016 I found my calling in PBs. I joined 12×12 and Storyteller Academy in 2017 and by May, I had four polished manuscripts and began querying. In July, I participated in #PBPitch on Twitter and Natascha Morris from BookEnds Literary liked it! I sent her my manuscript the following week. About a month later she requested more, and offered representation in September.  

Becoming a

Picture Book Writer

The short answer on why I decided to write picture books is because I had kids! I worked as an architect until my second child was born. Visiting the library with my kids and reading all those wonderful books with them made me wish I could write to them, but I wasn’t a writer! Still, that wish stayed with me. At one point I listened to that wish and began writing down ideas in a notebook. About five years later, I decided to give writing a shot. At first, I wrote in Portuguese, but then one day I began writing a middle-grade novel in English. In 2015, I wrote a short story, and my critique partners encouraged me to make it into a picture book. It became my debut, LILLYBELLE, A DAMSEL NOT IN DISTRESS. The following year I took the ReFoReMo (Read For Research Month) challenge. Being immersed in picture book mentor texts sealed the deal for me. By the end of that month all I wanted to write was picture books.

Her Debut Book –

LillyBelle, a Damsel not in Distress

My inspiration for my debut book – I was brainstorming the topic Knights and Castles from a call for submissions from Cricket magazine, and remembered the phrase “damsel in distress”. The first spark for the idea came from adding the word NOT to it. I wanted to tell a story of a girl who loves being damsel-y, but doesn’t like that damsels must wait for rescue. I like to think of LillyBelle as a girl who loves both ballet and karate, you know? A girl who can’t decide between being a fairy or a dinosaur on Halloween. In the book, LillyBelle refuses to be a damsel in distress and is set on proving that a damsel can very well save herself. It’s a story of girl power, friendship and also of accepting our differences.

It’s up for pre-order now. 

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635797/lillybelle-by-joana-pastro-illustrated-by-jhon-ortiz/

Bisa’s

Carnaval

BISA’S CARNAVAL was a completely different process. I wanted to write a book about Carnaval, so I researched everything I could about the topic. With that information at hand, I sat down to write and… nothing. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to write. So, I put it aside, and about a year later, I read FESTIVAL OF COLORS by Kabir and Surishtha Segal and fell in love with it. I realized I wanted to write a book with that level of energy and vibrancy, and most importantly, with that emotional resonance. After digging deep for my personal connections, I wrote about Clara and her Bisa (great-grandma) sharing the love for Carnaval and each other, while preparing for it. It’s coming out Fall 2021. 

Plans

More Plans

I have a couple of books out on submission, and three other that are submission ready. Right now, I’m working on marketing with my debut group, the Soaring 20s, and with Las Musas. I’m revising other picture books and trying my hand on an early chapter book. I’m pretty excited about that new challenge.

Having

Fun 💃🌅

Besides writing and reading, I love dancing. It’s my therapy. I’ve been taking a wonderful Broadway Jazz class for the past seven years. It’s the only activity that enables me to leave all of my worries outside the door. I miss my dancing friends so much now that we’re all social distancing. I love learning about art history, and I have a special place in my heart for ancient Egyptian history. I love being outside by the pool or at the beach, and watching movies and TV shows.

Tips for

Aspiring Writers

Don’t try to do it alone, find other writers, if you’re writing for children, join SCBWI, join a critique group. We all learn to write in elementary school, but that doesn’t mean we know how to write a book. Each type of book has a different set of rules. Learn those rules! Celebrate the small victories. And be patient. 

Pay attention to everything around you. Turn on your senses, absorb information, and read all sorts of materials. Ideas really are everywhere, you just need to have your idea catcher on at all times!

Some of

Her Favorites

Favorite Book -Little Women/Favorite Food -Desserts/Favorite Quote-Albert Einstein – “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

How to Support

Debut Authors 2020

Requesting our books at your local library and adding them your Goodreads “want to read” tab is a huge help. If you have the financial means, pre-order/order our books, and if you enjoyed reading them, please post a review. The more reviews we get, the more our books get seen.

If you’re buying for children, ask around. Classics are great, but there are sooooo many amazing new books being released every week. Give those a chance too!

Pre-Order Joana’s Book Here

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635797/lillybelle-by-joana-pastro-illustrated-by-jhon-ortiz/

Biography

Joana Pastro always wanted to be an artist of some sort. So, she became an architect. But once her first child was born, all the visits to the library, and the countless story times made Joana start dreaming of becoming a children’s book author. After a lot of reading, writing and revising, her dream is coming true. Her debut picture book, LILLYBELLE, A DAMSEL NOT IN DISTRESS, illustrated by Jhon Ortiz, will be published by BM&K in 09/08/2020. Her second book, BISA’S CARNAVAL, illustrated by Carolina Coroa will be published by Scholastic in Fall/2021. Originally from Brazil, Joana now lives in Florida with her husband, her three extremely creative children and a rambunctious Morkie. You can find her on Twitter @jopastro, Instagram on @joanapastro, on her website at www.joanapastro.com.

Links:

Twitter: @jopastro

Instagram: @joanapastro

www.joanapastro.com

Also:

https://www.soaring20spb.com/

https://www.lasmusasbooks.com/

A New Kind of Wild by Zara Gonzalez Hoang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A new Kind of Wild is a book that will fill your imagination and take you on a beautiful trip.

First Ren lives in this wild place filled with unicorns and fairies.

” His days were filled with green and dirt and rocks and mud.”

Then he moves to a big city. He meets Ava. A girl who is happy to go through all the colors and sounds of the big city.

“Ava loved her city. It was a place of constant change, with people mvoing through it like and endless parade.”

But no matter what Ava does, Ren still feels homesick until Ava finds a way to show Ren the wild does also exist in her big city, their big city.

Such a beautiful story filled with lyrical language and amazing illustration.
Wow. So colorful and bright, so vivid and real, so wild.

I strongly recommend this book to show all of us how perspective can make us see the world differently, but how with goodwill and friendship we can make everybody’s world a little better.
Congrats Zara for this beautiful story.
Ana Siqueira

PRE ORDER IT HERE

Zara Twitter

Zara’s Website



View all my reviews

My students love watching all the videos from Craig, especially the ones with Pablito. They always laugh when Pablito, el ratoncito, finds un tomate en el baño. Jajaja. His super creative stories will delight you. Read here to get to know more about this fantastic writer and teacher.

Childhood in Colombia

I was very fortunate to grow up in Colombia. I was born in the eastern mountain range of the Colombian Andes, very close to the Venezuelan border. There, in the evergreen mountains, I spent the first 19 years of my life.   

When you grow up in Colombia, you take for granted the spectacular biodiversity that surrounds you.  I’ll give you an example: In just a 30-minute walk in the woods it’s easy to spot up to 100 different species of birds. Here in Iowa, where I now live, we see many birds, but only a handful of species. I grew up with an almost perfect climate. At fifteen hundred meters above sea level in the tropics, temperatures always stay between 65 and 80 degrees throughout the year. I only understood how fortunate we Colombians are when I moved to the Midwest of the United States.

I had a beautiful childhood, with a lot of freedom. I spent countless hours riding my bicycle up and down the inclined streets of my hometown. I remember exploring the mountains, climbing trees, eating tropical fruits, bathing and fishing in the crystal-clear streams.  When I go back home, it’s wonderful to relive these moments with old friends.

I spent a lot of time with the farmers in the region. Hence the love for gardening and peasant music of Colombia. I was never a farmer, but gardening is one of my passions. That’s why today, in my little backyard in Iowa, I grow everything I can. I have more than 20 different berry bushes, and various vegetables and legumes. 

Teaching Spanish – Discovering Comprehensible Input

I started my career as a teacher working with university students. After some years working with adults, I applied for a job at an elementary and middle school. It was a very difficult change for me. I just didn’t have the experience and knowledge needed to manage and teach young children. My first year working with children was anything but easy, and I even thought about quitting to return to my previous job at the university. However, I researched, observed and asked many teachers for help. After seeing what a Comprehensible input teacher had accomplished with her students, I was quickly convinced that CI was the path I wanted to take. Gradually I began to improve and understand that much of my work is based on creating community to connect with students. Once I understood this, my life as a teacher began to improve dramatically.

I started writing and telling stories in class as a way to connect with my students. We all like stories. That’s why we watch movies, soap operas, and read different types of literature. Students are always curious to learn more about the life of teachers. My students love to hear stories about my childhood. “Let me tell you a crazy and painful story that happened to me when I was your age.”  With that simple start, I will have the majority of them hooked. Students love stories, and if the story is compelling, it will be effective. 

For me, the most satisfying experience is knowing that most of the students in my school consider Spanish to be an easy and fun class. When kids are saying that Spanish is their favorite class and are wanting to be there, that’s a sign that the ground is fertile for language acquisition. 

Super Funny Easy Readers and Videos

The website Spanish Cuentos was initially created to offer Spanish tutoring services to members of our community. People can use the website to contact me for private classes. I work with many children and adults in the community. I also train teachers and hire them to work with families and cover the hours that are beyond my reach.

The website now has a store and access to an annual membership. The membership allows access to videos and downloadable materials. In the store you will find books, posters, maps and many other useful materials for Spanish classes.  

Most of the books I write are illustrated novels. I try to include over 200 illustrations in each book. Illustrations are a very important part of my books. When 4 year olds start reading in their native language, they will have a better understanding of the text if is accompanied by illustrations. In the case of second language learners, the experience is not that different. They are also learning to read in the new language. Many of the difficulties that 4 and 5-year-olds encounter when starting to read in their native language are also shared by second language learners when introduced to reading in a new language. 

In our language classes, we talk about the importance of visual aids, gestures, pointing and tones of voice to make the language more understandable for students. Well, the illustrations are there for that same purpose: To make the language more comprehensible. The illustrations help students make sense of the text. The drawings help language learners find the meaning of the unknown words, making the reading less stressful and much more pleasant. Difficult readings are not effective. I believe reading should not be difficult.  

For a language learner, a book in another language can be intimidating, and a book with illustrations gives the student a sense of control and it helps him/her build self-confidence.  

Tips For Aspiring Authors

The options for publishing books are endless. It’s quite easy. I recommend self publishing sites like Lulu, KDP, Smashwords and even Teacherspayteachers.  

The best tip I can give teachers or anyone who wants to write a book is to start writing. If you don’t take that first step, you’ll always be in the same place. Teachers always ask me to read their stories.  They are not sure if their story is good enough. Trust me, if you think you have an interesting story, you probably do. So start writing for your students. Try it with different classes, different levels. Share your story with other teachers and ask them to try it out in their classes.  Ask native speakers for some feedback. If you are a native speaker, ask native speakers from other countries or regions to read your story. Once you take that first step, everything else will slowly fall into place. Start writing! 

My Book El Pato Quiere Uvas

Easy to Read and filled with illustrations – From Elementary to High School

Based on the video “The Duck Song.”

Reflections on my achievements 2019 – Exercise for 12 Days of Christmas by 12×12 – Julie Hedlund

A long time ago, 1992!!! I wrote children’s books in Brazil, and one of them got an award from “Academia de Letras” in Brazil. 

Forward a few years, and you’ll find a Spanish teacher without time to write. Life has happened – children, jobs, moving to another country, and Zapt!!! No more books, no more inspiration.

But then, CI happened! What is CI? Comprehensible Input – a method to teach a foreign language through stories and then… Creation. I’ve created many fun, easy-to-read stories to my students. Finally, I decided to try publishing one of my stories, and I submitted it to a big World Language Publisher and TA-DA, they liked, and they published it this July. 

But after writing so many easy readers to my students, I decided to try writing picture books again, and it all started this last January when I made a translation/version of one of my previous books. I sent it to an editor to critique, and – You story is very episodic. What the ketchup that means? And that’s when I

1. Registered for Storyteller Academy. 
2. Registered for 12×12
3. Joined many Facebook writing pages.
4. Read books about writing and picture books.
5. Wrote some horrible drafts. And I learned that it is okay.
6. I joined some Critique Groups and found amazing writers to create my Critique Group called Las Chicas Latinas.
7. Learned, wrote, learned.
8. I wrote more than 12 drafts, but I have only 5 I have been working on and considering for now.
9. I joined Inked Voices, and I strongly recommend it.
10. I got some professional critiques and one day…. I got such a tough critique that I thought I should quit. My whole story was still too long, too confusing, too episodic. How frustrating!!
11. I was about to quit when my critique partners lifted me and made me keep going.
12. I got some twitter likes on pitmad — the first one submitted – rejection.
13. I got three more rejections – one – no answer and two form rejections.
14. I decided to wait until 2020 to start querying again and …

I got a pitmad like, a submission, an offer (still in the works), an agent, – the amazing Andrea Walker – and an R&R. 

So, in summary, I can say my picture book of 2019 had a satisfying ending with lots of hopes and promises, but I know the challenges will keep on coming. For that reason, I will keep on writing, learning, and leaning on my amazing Critique partners.

A special thanks to all my critique partners who had the patience with my 1234 revisions of the same story. And a big thank you to Lynne Marie, who, through tough love, has taught me so much about the structure of picture books.