My publisher, Candlewick, just released the cover image of the last book I illustrated, Ladder to the Moon, written by Maya Soetoro-Ng.
This picture book will be released in Spring 2011

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During the American Library Association last summer, I was asked to talk about what the public libraries meant for me. I was in my way out of the convention center, and the camera man run after me and catch me by surprise (hence my face). But what is not a surprise is that when I saw the Public Library for the first time, it changed my life.

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My friend Jim and I have inspiration dates each month.

Among the things that don't happen in our inspiration date are the following:

• French Kissing.

• Rampant Gossiping.

• Table dancing.

• Entering illegally into other countries.

• The hunting of animals.

• Tequila drinking.

• Bungee jumping.

• Worrying.

Instead, this is what happens in our inspiration dates:

• We meet somewhere in the bay area.

• We visit a place where we can find inspiration.

• Children's bookstores are some of the best places to find what we are looking for. Libraries and exhibit are too.

• We have adopted the mission to find at least one thing that we love: a story, images with a great style, a new artist, a great book.

• We bring our object of inspiration home. Some times we bring two or more. And some times they are not for sale.

• At the end of our date we might have time to create something together, such as this,

And this,

Ay, Llorona from Yuyi Morales on Vimeo.

During our September inspiration date we visited one of our favorite stores, The Storyteller.
There we found artwork that we loved, such as in this book illustrated by Isol


And stories and illustrations that made us laugh

And even some shocking art coincidences.

At the end, I chose my favorite.

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On Saturday I went to the library. I had decided to read a book I had never read before, a banned book. One feared by some and beloved by many.
My librarian, almost a kid, showed me the way. There, in isle 3B.



Among the Popol Vuh (another book that has also been object of prejudice, destruction and burning) and the guides to Toltect Wisdom.


The Qu'ran.
And at the end, the open book showed me that those who fear it and those who love it have much more in common than we realized.

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The American Libray Association is doing its part; ALA and librarians across the county will protest book burning with reading the Qur'an on 9/11
I want to do my part too: this Saturday I will go to my public library, I will look for the Qur'an, and I will read it. The act will be simple, even familiar, and yet just as powerful as a book burning. Reading is a fire in itself--I very well know it, I, who has grown by its light.
Will you come too?
I will be posting my photograph reading.
So can you.

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I have it in my calendar that is there is no pressing deadline in sight, weekends are for family and home projects. This weekend was for making cushions. I couldn't stop, I admit. But my garden loves these colors.
I blame this maniacal obsession of having to make things (anything, something, but make it!) on my mother. My sisters are afflicted too.

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Floating on Mama's Song written by Laura Lacamara and illustrated by Yours Truly has been released this week. To celebration begins with a blog tour and the chance to win a copy of the book. Here are the details and the schedule:

Monday, August 30 - Floating on Mama's Song synopsis, reviews:
Out of the Paintbox

Tuesday, August 31 - Interview with author, Laura Lacamara:
On Beyond Words and Pictures


Wednesday, September 1- Interview with editor, Katherine Tegen:
Tales from the Rushmore Kid


Thursday, September 2 - Interview with illustrator, Yuyi Morales:
Latin Baby Book Club


Friday, September 3 – Announcement of contest winner:
Out of the Paintbox


How to win a book? Just post a comment on any of the blogs on the tour.

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I knew it since last year when I accepted the plan: in 2010 I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't sleep, I wouldn't go out of the house. Two books to illustrate in one year don't leave room for the rest of ones life. But I am done at last and starting tomorrow I am doing noting but putting my feet up and scratching my bellybutton while I travel to Mexico where my family and my vacation awaits me.
In the meantime, I am marking the end of a working season with a speech. This is the text of my acceptance speech at the Pura Belpre award ceremony at the ALA conference this year in Washington DC.
See you all when I come back with my bellybutton swollen from so much idle scratching.

ALA Pura Belpre honor acceptance speech, Washington DC, 2010

When I was growing up I never, ever, imagined that I could be an artist. Even thought I spent much of my childhood drawing, and I was fascinated with how the lines of a pencil on a paper could make things appear―and I even got in trouble for doing so, I simply did not dare to dream of art and I together. To be such a thing―an artist!―I couldn't imagine.

Instead, I imagined being white. White with blue eyes and blond hair like the people that―I had learned―had it all. Like many generations of Mexicans before me, like my parents and my grandparents and their own parents, I had understood that to be smart, or beautiful, or talented, or important, one had to look different than me. You see, I grew up in a country that conquistadores indoctrinated with the belief that to be dark skinned or indian looking was to be like a child who needed to be guided and corrected. So powerful were these beliefs that they are still embedded in our popular culture, and even now many of us grow up admiring anyone who looks lighter, and we grant superiority to those who were born in another country, or speak other than Spanish. In my case, I accepted the fate of my features and my color, and so I didn't dare to dream being anything I thought wonderful, because, after all, I was just a brown kid.

Today that we are together at the Pura Belpre award, I want to tell you something; I love this celebration, and I await for it with as much anticipation as if it were my Primera Comunion or my Quince Años. I do, first, because this is a true fiesta, warm and colorful, much like the ones back at home with music and good friends. Secondly, because we are celebrating some of my favorite things in the world: children's books. These extraordinary works of art, which I discovered as an adult for the first time on the shelves of the public library in Walnut Creek, California, have changed my perceptions of the world and myself, and have given me a path to follow.Third, I love this celebration because you are here. Librarians, educators, book lovers, friends, we share the same passion. And when people with the same spark get together, we make fire. My writers and my illustrators being celebrated today, weavers of words, conjurers of images, searchers of meaning, keepers of stories; you are what I always really wanted to be, but I didn't know I could. Through the books that you create, kids like the one I was are finally the rightful protagonist of their own stories. In your books people like me are made of nothing but the right color, brandish the right accent, speak the right language, and―should we dare?--even wear the right clothes. In your books a truth is told: We are perfect exactly the way we are.

My friend Rose tells me that she believes that violence happens when we forget that we are all connected. Rose says we are one, all of us... her, you, and I. I only met Rose a few years ago, and she delivers sapience to me every Wednesday morning while we go for walks with my dogs.
If I had known Rose when I was growing up, I would have learned that while I felt I lacked everything , in fact I had it all. Because, you see, if

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This question was posted after my note Yes, I Look Like an Illegal Immigrant:

"Hello, Ms. Morales, I was wondering if you knew of a children's book or young adult novel about a high school student trying to be a normal American teenager but having to hide their parents's illegal immigrant status? After graduation , they can't get a job, drive a car, or get scholarships for college. This is for a grad project I'm working on."

I know that the voice of the community is far richer than mine alone, so I posted the question in my Facebook page. And here, in this list of recommended books I got an answer for Steve and for anyone who wants to know:

Ask Me No Questions, by Marina Budhos
Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena María Viramontes
Pablo and Pimienta, by Ruth Covault
Friends from the Other Side, by Gloria Anzaldúa and Consuelo Mendez Castillo
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
La Linea, by Ann Jaramillo
Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez
We are Americans, by William Perez

Thank you so much for the recommendations to Scoot Beck, Ginger Knowlton, Oralia Garza de Cortes, and Sherry York.

I hope these help you, Steve.

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One of my favorite celebrations is today. Back in Mexico this would be a party day both at school and at home. But celebrations sometimes make me sad too. There are two sides to everything, and so there are two sides to being a child as well. Being a child is to be blessed, but it is also to be vulnerable. Being a child is to be cherished, but so is to be forgotten.

So, today in Children's Day, I am honoring children in the best way I know, sharing a book for children to be acknowledge, to be loved, to be read and to be celebrated:

Book fiesta by Pat Mora and Rafael Lopez. Winner of the 2010 Pura Belpre Medal for illustration this books is magical and inspiring. Pat has been an ardent promoter of Dia de los Niños, and a founder /dia de los Libros, and in this book she has brought the celebration to a book.

Enjoy.

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From my brown slanted eyes, which I inherited from my Mixtec indian grandfather, down to my cracked and callused feet (from wearing too many huaraches) I look exactly like what I am, a native of Mexico. But, what is my immigration story? Legal or illegal? Could you tell the difference?

Our stories are diverse, rich, some are sad and many are courageous. Documented or undocumented we leave things and people that we love behind and with us we bring our dreams.

Here a four children's book with immigrant stories worth reading. Enjoy.

Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del Otro Lado. By Gloria Anzaldual and Consuelo Mendez Castillo. This is one of my first books about immigrants I found in the library when I first arrive to the USA. I remember thinking how much Prietita's cardboard and metal house looked like the houses of many people I know in my country.


My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River, by Jane Median and Fabricio Vanden Broeck. My favorite piece from this book, which also makes me feel sad when I read, is the poem titled Why am I Dumb?:

Why am i dumb?In my country
I was smart. All tens!
Never even an eight!

Now I am here.
They give eC's or D's or F's
--like fives...
or ones.
I feel like I'm turning into Kiko
from my old class.Kiko's dumb in any country.

Well,
I's still smart
in math.
Maybe dumbin reading. But math--
--all tens, I mean
A's.


My Shoes and I, by Rene colato Lainez and Fabricio Vanden Broeck. This is a story about crozing the border of trhee countries and the faith of a boy in his new shoes that will him to be reunited with his family.


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