When Monica Brown became a mom and began to explore children’s books, she was shocked to find a lack of diversity in their pages. In particular, she wished to see more books celebrating the contributions of Latinos to the world and the Americas. So armed with the experience of a successful career in literature and language and the power of words and art, she decided to write these books herself.
Monica was born in Mt. View, California, and is the daughter of a South American mother and a North American father. Her mother, Isabel Maria Vexler Valdivieso was born in Piura, Peru and immigrated to the United States in her late teens. Her father, Daniel Brown, was born in San Francisco, the grandchild of Hungarian Jewish, Scottish, and Italian immigrants, she told IQLatino.
During her childhood, she traveled back and forth to Peru, where her family would stay for many months, and remains very close to her relatives there. “My Peruvian-American heritage is a deep source of pride and sustenance,” she said. “In fact, mother spent her teen years living on Julio C. Tello Blvd in Lima, Peru. So many years later, it is a joy to publish a book on Tello, the first Indigenous archeologist of the Américas,” she added. Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano Julio C. Tello/Peruvian Archeologist Julio C. Tello is one of her children’s books, illustrated by Peruvian American artist Elisa Chavarri.
After college, Monica was a journalist in Guadalajara, Mexico. She then began to write as a scholar, and has taught U.S. Latino/a/x and African American literature at Northern Arizona, where she currently lives, for twenty years.
Upon her discovery of lack of Latino representation in children’s books, she realized that writing for children was a natural continuation of her life and career. “For example, there had never been a children’s book written about my favorite writer, Gabriel García Márquez, or labor activist Dolores Huerta, so I wrote My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me Llamo Gabito: La Vida de Gabriel García Marquez and Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and César Chávez/Lado a Lado: La History de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez,” she explained. Coming from a multi-ethnic family inspired her to write the fun, indomitable Marisol McDonald of Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/no combina.
From picture books, she expanded her writing to include chapter book series, including her series starring Lola Levine and her Sarai Series, a collaboration with thirteen-year old Sarai Gonzalez, who became an overnight sensation after her appearance in Bomba Estereo’s “Soy Yo” music video.
As for advice to fellow Latino authors in the United States, “dream big, seek out community, and do not internalize rejection,” Monica advised. She explained how one of her best-selling books, which is now a series, was rejected by a dozen publishers over the years before a small publisher finally took a chance on it. “Don’t let other people’s judgments shake your belief in self! As Mexican-American poet and essayist Gloria Anzaldúa once said, ‘May we dance in the face of our fears’,” she added.
You can learn more about Monica’s amazing work here!