Author’s Corner: Michael Sampson & Olena Kharchenko & Illustrator Polina Doroshenko

By Judi Moreillon, Tucson, AZ

Michael Sampson participated in the 15th Annual Tucson Festival of Books in March 2024. He was a panelist for the “Every Word Counts: Authoring a Picturebook” session. After the panel, Michael introduced me to his wife Olena Kharchenko and their daughter, Michelle. We talked about their co-authored bilingual (English/Ukrainian) book The Story of Ukraine: An Anthem of Glory and Freedom.

In March 2022, Michael, Olena, and the book’s illustrator, Polina Doroshenko, seized the moment and began co-creating The Story of Ukraine. People around the world were focused on Ukraine after the full Russian invasion, which occurred on February 24, 2022. The authors had a timely story to tell about Olena and Polina’s beloved homeland. By August, they released their book so that children and families around the world could learn about Olena and Polina’s fascinating nation.

The book includes information about the geography of Ukraine, its people, their history, national symbols, and cultural aspects such as food, dance, music, and notable people. Presented in the header of several pages, the centerpiece of the book, are the words of the Ukrainian national anthem, which had been forbidden by the Soviet government in 1922. The illustrations reinforce the meaning of the national anthem and show the pride Ukrainians feel in having the opportunity to sing their anthem under the current government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Joe Cepeda

By Judi Moreillon, Tucson, AZ

Joe Cepeda participated in the 15th Annual Tucson Festival of Books in March, 2024. He was a panelist for the “Every Word Counts: Authoring a Picturebook” session. It was in that panel presentation that Joe shared his deeply personal connection to his latest author/illustrated book Rafa Counts on Papá. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Margaret Chiu Greanias

By Rebecca Ballenger, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Photo by Erin Sloan Photography

Unlikely author Margaret Chiu Greanias struggled in Language Arts and English classes throughout school but still managed to write her first book in fourth grade. And that was it for a long time. Then, during the last quarter of her last year in college, Greanias took a creative writing class that turned things around for her writing career. Today, her picturebooks include Maximillain Villanous, Amah Faraway, Hooked on Books and her newest release, How This Book Got Red. In this Authors’ Corner Greanias discusses her new book, representation in children’s literature, her writing process and school visits. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Matt Mendez

By Rebecca Ballenger, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Photo by Chris Summitt

Matt Mendez is the author of Barely Missing Everything and the short story collection, Twitching Heart. The New York Times says Matt “has an uncanny ability to capture the aimless bluster of young boys posturing at confidence.” His new novel, The Broke Hearts, also captures this bluster. In this profile, Matt opens up about this new novel, his writing process and meaningful reader interactions. Continue reading →

Author’s Corner: Jonah Winter

By Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, PA

Jonah Winter is an award-winning author of more than 40 picture books who currently resides in Pennsylvania, a state in which more than 450 books were banned in 2022, including Winter’s biography, Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx (2009). Book-banning is in the news these days, and another book by Winter made the news in Spring 2023 when it was banned in Duval County, Florida–his biography, Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates (2002). Speaking of Florida (second only to Texas in book banning), Winter’s biography Hillary (2016) was banned from two schools in Miami where he was scheduled to visit on his book tour in 2016. At each school, the principals prevented him from presenting his book. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Judy I. Lin

By Rebecca Ballenger, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Photo by Aaron Perkins.

Judy I. Lin’s Duology of Tea is steeped in the terrain of the Taiwanese mountains, known for oolong teas. Lin, who was born in Taiwan and now lives in Canada, wanted to explore tea ceremonies around the world for a story brewing in her imagination. In that process, she came right back to the type of tea ceremony that she grew up with. Imagining the tea ceremony has magical properties for the sake of a young adult novel posed challenges.

“It’s not like blasting a fireball from your hands or any type of elemental magic where you can just directly influence the world around you, because it’s a quieter sort of magic. You have to be the one drinking it, or you have to make the other person drink it, or you have to have the ingredients available to you,” says Lin. You also must have all the specialized tools. That thought process inspired the magical competition that brings the protagonist, Ning, to the palace in A Magic Steeped In Poison, book one of the Duology of Tea. The result is an immersive young adult fantasy that transports readers to another time and place and reinforces the importance of relationships and trust in our lives. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Traci Sorell

By Danelle Jishie, A Student’s Journey Intern with the WOW Center, Tucson, AZ

Photo by Cody Hammer

Traci Sorell brings visibility to the lives of contemporary Native Americans through the characters she writes. Sorell’s most recent book Powwow Day (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2022), is filled with family, community, and the healing powers of Powwow dancing. Vivid illustrations by Madelyn Goodnight also bring life to the story Sorell cultivates themes such as illness, uncertainty and hope. In Powwow Day, the character River, recovering from an unknown illness goes to the local powwow with her family. Although limited by her recovery, River finds strength from her family and community as the songs and the drums lift her spirits. Readers who pick up this book can experience the colorful world of a powwow. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Wilson Ong

By Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Mary J. Wong recently donated the entire set of original oil illustrations for Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America by Wilson Ong to the Worlds of Words Center along with his thumbnail sketches and color studies. In working on the exhibition, we wanted to include Wilson’s perspective and process in creating the illustrations and so interviewed him, gaining many useful insights into his process and the connection of the book to his family story. Continue reading →

Authors’ Corner: Joseph Bruchac

By Megan McCaffrey, Governor’s State University in Chicago, Chicago, IL

Bruchac sitting on a hide, holding a drum and smiling.

Photo by Eric Jenks

Author Joseph (Joe) Bruchac, a storyteller most of his life, sat in conversation with children’s literature students at the University of Arizona on January 31, 2022, a session which I attended. Raised by his maternal grandparents who lived down the road from his parents, little “Sonny,” as he was called, did not know much about his Native American roots. Once Bruchac began to explore his Native American heritage in college, he became drawn to his Abenki roots. He says, “I knew as a child, for example, that we had native heritage, but I did not know much about it.” Bruchac was born in October 1942 in upstate New York, and he still lives in Saratoga Springs above what was his grandparent’s gas station and general store where he was raised. Today, Bruchac operates a bookstore in the former general store. Continue reading →

Author’s Corner: Ray Jaramillo

By Mary L. Fahrenbruck, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Ray Jaramillo’s first picturebook for children, Gust, Gust, Gust! (Page Publishing, Inc., 2021), is the story of a young boy who is afraid of the wind. Gustavo, called Gust, lives in a village located in southwestern New Mexico, U.S.A. where the wind blows constantly. To comfort Gust, his Tata plays the bongos each time the wind begins to whirl. Eventually, the villagers grow tired of listening to Tata play his bongos and ban him from ever playing again. Unbeknownst to the villagers, banning Tata’s bongo playing has devastating consequences for the village. To find out if the villagers can survive without the music of Tata’s bongos, pick up Ray’s new picturebook, Gust, Gust, Gust! Continue reading →