Episode #96: What is it like to see your book at a library or anywhere book related? with Angela Dominguez
Welcome back to another episode of Kids Ask Authors! Today we welcome authors Angela Dominguez and Grace Lin to answer this great kid question; “What is it like to see your book in a library or anywhere else book related?”
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books including the middle-grade novel, When the Sea Turned to Silver, and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I am here with Angela Dominguez, the author and illustrator of picture books such as, Sing, Don't Cry, as well as the author and illustrator of the early middle-grade Stella Diaz books. Hi, Angela.
Angela Dominguez: Hi, Grace.
Grace Lin: Thanks so much for joining us today.
Angela Dominguez: Oh, I'm so happy to be here with you.
Grace Lin: Are you ready for today's kid question?
Angela Dominguez: I'm pumped. I'm ready.
Grace Lin: Okay. All right. Today's kid question is from a person named Kyle. And Kyle asks.
Kyle: What is it like to see your book at a library or anywhere book related?
Grace Lin: What is it like to see your book at a library or anywhere book related?
Angela Dominguez: Ooh, that's a great question. And I also love the name Kyle because that's the name of my boyfriend and so many of my good friends. It's a great thing. I think... You know? As an author and illustrator, you're often working by yourself at home, working on this thing that you're obsessed about, that you love, that can be frustrating and fun. So when you actually see it at a library or a bookstore, it is the best feeling the entire world because it means that your book is actually real, and that other readers can enjoy it and pick it up and smell it, or spend time with it, and get to know those characters that you've thought about so much. So for me, that's the big payoff. That's the moment where I get to be like, "I'm really an author. I'm really an illustrator. And I really make books."
Grace Lin: Do you remember the first time you saw one of your books in a store or library?
Angela Dominguez: I do. I remember it was... I lived in San Francisco and I went to art school there. And I think it was over at Books Inc. And it was the first time that my book that I wrote, Let's Go, Hugo!, came out and it was the first time I was an author. And it was just the most rewarding thing to be able to pick it up. And you almost just want to tell everyone like at... You know? I'm a little shy, but in that moment I was just so excited. I was practically just wanting to point to everyone like, "Look. I made this book. This is my name. I'm Angela Dominguez." And so that feeling kind of never really goes away. Although, you learn to kind of keep it a little bit calmer.
Grace Lin: I remember the first time I saw my book in a bookstore was when I was working in one. My very first book, The Ugly Vegetables, came out like in 1999. And I was working at a bookstore. And they got my book in because they knew I was the author and illustrator. And I remember being in the bookstore and having it and being like, "This is so weird." And then, an acquaintance of mine, really a friend of a friend, came in and asks for it and said, "Oh, do you have a book called The Ugly Vegetables? A friend of a friend of mine wrote that book. And I remember hiding in the back room because I didn't want the woman who was buying it to see me working at the bookstore. I thought that would like ruin the author mystique or something like that. So I remember that very vividly.
Angela Dominguez: I'm sure she would've loved to have seen you and have you sign the book.
Grace Lin: You know? That's so interesting because now I think about that and I think about how I would've been like. And I was like, "Yeah, I probably would've."
Angela Dominguez: Right.
Grace Lin: But back then, I just thought like, "Oh, I don't want her to know I'm a real person." Or not even a real person. I don't want her to see how unlike a real author I really am.
Angela Dominguez: Yeah. I get that feeling. I think sometimes it depends on the day for me where I'm feeling really excited, and eager, and wanting to sign someone's book, and then sometimes thinking, "I'm just this lowly author."
Grace Lin: Well, to me, it wasn't so much lowly author. It was more like, "Oh, an author is somebody very glamorous and sophisticated." And they were going to see me, like in my ripped up jeans and my messy hair, and be like, "You're an author?"
Angela Dominguez: Only if she knew that's how we often dress at home when we're working.
Grace Lin: I know. Nowadays, I know that's how we all look. So that's a big comfort as I've grown in my career. Very few authors are the very sophisticated authors that they show on TV.
Angela Dominguez: Definitely.
Grace Lin: Especially children's authors.
Angela Dominguez: Yeah. We're more about comfort. And I think that's why we also love writing it. It's just we... I think we never grew up in that way, that feeling, the need to be super professional or super glamorous. Although of course, it's nice to do that every once in a while.
Grace Lin: Yes, it is nice once in a while. Though, I think in one of my other interviews, somebody asked me, "Do you think the profession chose you or you chose the profession?" And I always think, "Hmm. I think in some ways I chose this profession because I was never going to work out very well in a more corporate dress up every day kind of job."
Angela Dominguez: Yeah. I think I definitely... I think in a way I chose it, but in a way it was always obvious because I was the kind of person who kept collecting children's books even through college, and then all of a sudden, art school snuck up on me that this would be the perfect job for me. And everything aligned.
Grace Lin: And it did. And now we have your beautiful, beautiful books.
Angela Dominguez: Thank you.
Grace Lin: Well, thank you so much, Angela, for answering Kyle's question. And thank you Kyle, for asking it. Bye.
Angela Dominguez: Bye.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Clara. She is reviewing, “Stella Díaz Has Something To Say” by Angela Dominiquez .
Hi, my name is Clara and the book I would like to talk about today is Stella Díaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez. Stella Díaz is a Mexican American girl who is very shy. She has a best friend named Jenny, but Jenny is in a different class this year. One day a new kid joins Stella’s class. Stella wants to talk to the new kid but is worried she will embarrass herself in front of him. (You’ll have to read the book to find out whether they become friends.) I liked this book because you learn a little bit of Spanish and about Mexican culture and because it is just so sweet.
Thank you Clara!
More about today’s authors:
Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City and grew up in the great state of Texas. She now resides on the east coast with her boyfriend, Kyle, and their petite dog, Petunia.
She is also the author and illustrator of several books for children and a two-time recipient of Pura Belpré Illustration Honor. Her debut middle grade novel, Stella Díaz Has Something To Say, was a New York Public Library and a Chicago Public Library pick for Best Books for Kids, Sid Fleischman Award winner, and an ALA Notable. She recently illustrated Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s newest picture book, Just Help! How to Build a Better World. When Angela is not in her studio or visiting schools, she teaches at the Academy of Art University, which honored her with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013.
Angela is a proud member of SCBWI, PEN America, and represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency. As a child, she loved reading books and making a mess creating pictures. She’s delighted to still be doing both.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
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