Imagination Friday with Pam Muñoz Ryan

Join us on Friday, September 26, 1:00 to 1:45 to meet Pam Muñoz Ryan as she introduces her new novel, El Niño, that combines reality, fantasy and myth. Kai Sosa, a competitive swimmer, discovers an underwater realm and mysterious library that helps him cope with the loss of his sister. Myth and reality collide as an El Niño storm unleashes its fury. This exquisite novel is printed in blue ink with illustrations by Joe Cepeda.

Pam will introduce her new book and process of writing, invite children to consider their own fantasy world, and answer questions.

You must register for the webinar to attend and will receive a link to click on and join this exciting event with Pam Muñoz Ryan. The webinar will be recorded and those who register will receive that link to watch the recording if unable to join us live.

Host: Kathy Short, Professor of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies and Director of WOW.
Panelist: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Co-Sponsor: Tucson Festival of Books

Photo Credit: Mike Brown

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of bestselling novels, including Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi León, The Dreamer, Echo, Mañanaland and Solimar. She has received many awards, including a Newbery Honor and several Pura Belpré Medals. Many of her stories reflect her Mexican heritage. Her newest book is El Niño

Imagination Friday is co-sponsored by the Tucson Festival of Books and Worlds of Words, University of Arizona College of Education and occurs one Friday a month from 1 to 1:40 p.m. through December 2025 with a different author or illustrator each session. Add some excitement to Fridays with world-renowned children’s authors and illustrator to promote new books and encourage children as readers, writers and illustrators.

See upcoming authors/illustrators or catch up on old Imagination Fridays in our archive.

Tucson Festival of Books logo with sponsors listed

Refugee and Migrant Narrative in Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a poignant story about the journey of a magical mouth harp (harmonica) through time and space. The masterful enmeshing of timeless fairytale and historical reality binds this powerful text into a strong narrative that highlights world events, prejudice, and social class distinctions. It all begins with Otto, who gets lost in a jungle where three sisters, bound by a witch’s curse, find him. Otto promises to break the curse by taking the harmonica out to the world. The harmonica, through its magical music, tangibly joins three children separated by place, which lifts the curse, freeing the three sisters. Continue reading →

Reader Response: Sketch-to-Stretch with The Dreamer

by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, University of Texas, Austin

Here are my graduate students’ responses to The Dreamer in sketch format. Each of these sketches is unique and they represent a range of meanings and interpretations reminding us of how we as readers bring to reading our own experiences and histories (Probst, 1990; Rosenblatt, 1976) as readers and individuals.

As it is reflected in the responses to the first two blogs and in these sketches, the Father figure in the story impacted my students’ reading in different ways. Continue reading →

Reader Response: The Dreamer Part II

by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, University of Texas, Austin

This week we aim to have an online discussion of The Dreamer. A small group of students from Teachers College participating in a course on Latino literature, will share their responses to the novel. Please, join our discussion. One of my favorite scenes was the interchange of gifts between Neftalí and an unknown child through the hole in the fence of the backyard. Continue reading →

Reader Response: The Dreamer

by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, University of Texas, Austin

During the month of July we want to invite readers to respond to the 2011 Pura Belpré Award winner, The Dreamer (2010), written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis. Based on events of Pablo Neruda’s childhood and inspired by his poetry, Pam Muñoz created a fictionalized account that offers adolescent readers the opportunity to meet one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century: Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Continue reading →

Reading as a Collaborative Act: Crossing Borders with Pam Muñoz Ryan

By Marie LeJeune and Tracy Smiles, Western Oregon University

During the month of April we’ve explored how some of our favorite authors can be mentors for reading, writing, and global citizenship. For our final post this month we are featuring author Pam Muňoz Ryan.
Continue reading →