What does seeing yourself represented in books mean to you? This afternoon I had the pleasure to tune in to a conversation between the award-winning duo Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson, author and illustrator of Last Stop on Market Street, Carmela Full of Wishes, and the upcoming Milo Imagines the World.
It was a wonderful conversation and I loved getting a peek behind the curtain as they shared parts of their process. You may think that writing a picture book is quick and easy, but Matt de la Peña shared that he wrote over 50 drafts of Last Stop on Market Street before he got the “music” of it right. And Christian Robinson shared some of the many decisions he had to make when creating the illustrations for his books – what should CJ be wearing in Last Stop on Market Street? How do you convey aspects of a character’s personality through the pictures? He shared that he gave Milo glasses in Milo Imagines the World because Milo is an observant child and he wanted to emphasize that.
Both de la Peña and Robinson shared that creating books that feature diverse and underrepresented characters in stories that don’t focus on diversity is important to them. In their latest book, Milo Imagines the World, Milo is a child with an incarcerated parent, but the book is really about Milo learning to see the complexity in people as he journeys to visit his parent. Robinson, who grew up with an incarcerated parent, trusted de la Peña to tell this story in a way that honored the experience, but also expands it. He noted that “there are infinite ways to tell a story”.
Getting to see these talented creators engaging in conversation was a great way to spend part of my first day at Virtual ALA Midwinter and I can’t wait to read their new book when it comes out!