Monica Brown (author) facts for kids
Monica Brown is a well-known American author who writes books for children. She was born on October 24, 1969. Monica Brown is famous for her book series like Lola Levine and Sarai. She also writes many biographies about important Latin American figures. These include Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez.
Monica Brown creates characters that many kids can relate to. Her stories show the rich and varied experiences of Latinx people. They also focus on empowering girls. She wants to show that children from different cultures are complete people. They have a wonderful and lively cultural background. An example is her character Marisol McDonald, who is Peruvian-Scottish-American. Besides writing, Monica Brown is also an English professor at Northern Arizona University.
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Monica Brown's Early Life
Monica Brown was born on October 24, 1969, in Mountain View, California. Her mother, Isabel Maria Vexler Valdivieso, was from Piura, Peru. Her father, Daniel Doronda Brown, was from San Francisco. Monica's background is very diverse. On her mother's side, she has Mestiza and Romanian-Jewish heritage. On her father's side, she is Hungarian Jewish, Scottish, and Italian.
Monica was raised Catholic. As an adult, she converted to Judaism. Growing up, she often visited her mother's family in Peru. Her diverse upbringing greatly influences her books. For example, her character Lola Levine has Jewish-Peruvian-American roots, just like Monica Brown herself.
Monica Brown's Career and Books
Monica Brown studied English in college. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1991. She then received her master's degree from Boston College in 1994. Later, she earned her Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University in 1998. Today, she is a tenured professor at Northern Arizona University. There, she teaches classes on different types of American literature.
Why Monica Brown Writes for Kids
Monica Brown started writing children's books after her daughters were born. She wanted to create stories that showed the important contributions of people from the Americas. Her Peruvian and Jewish heritage inspires her work. She is dedicated to bringing diverse stories to young readers. Many of Monica Brown's books are published in two languages, usually English and Spanish. One of her books was even translated into Quechua. This is an indigenous language spoken in the Andes mountains.
Famous Books and Awards
Monica Brown's first children's book was My Name is Celia: the Life of Celia Cruz. It was published in 2004 in both English and Spanish. This book won the Américas Award for Children's Literature.
In 2011, she published Waiting for the Biblioburro. This book shows how important reading and education are. It tells the story of a teacher in Colombia. He uses donkeys to carry books to faraway communities. The book won a Christopher Award in 2012.
Her 2012 book, Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People, earned her a second Américas Award. In 2015, she won the Judy Goddard Award in Children's Literature. Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos was another successful book. The New York Times chose it as one of the best illustrated books of 2017. That same year, she received a Valle del Sol Award for her excellence in art, culture, and literature. Monica Brown has also received the Professor Alberto Rios Award and an Outstanding Latino/a in the Literary Arts Award.
The Sarai Book Series
In 2018, Monica Brown started a new chapter-book series called Sarai. She wrote this series with child actress and internet star Sarai Gonzalez. The Sarai series is for children aged 7 to 10. The stories are inspired by real events from Sarai Gonzalez's life.
