Welcome Monica Brown

Monica Brown will be at Gordon Tuesday, December 3rd to Thursday, December 5th, as the thirteenth annual Karla Harry Visiting Author. She will present to every grade and lead workshops with Lower School and Middle School students.

Themes of personal identity and activism run throughout her work, making her a terrific match for Gordon students. Second graders will be particularly interested to meet her as part of their yearlong study of the craft of picture book creation.

Monica Brown is the author of the Lola Levine chapter book series and many award-winning picture books including Waiting for the Biblioburro, Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match, and Maya's Blanket. She has collaborated with eleven-year-old Sarai Gonzalez on the Sarai chapter book series. Her picture book biographies include one on musician Tito Puente and another on Pablo Neruda.

Her latest picture book, Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2017 and 2018 Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration. Earlier books have received multiple starred reviews, Pura Belpré Honors, Américas Awards, as well as an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor for best nonfiction and The Christopher Award, among many others.

Monica's books are inspired by her Peruvian and Jewish heritage and desire to bring diverse stories to children. She is a professor of English at Northern Arizona University and earned the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacies from the Center of Chicano Studies at the University of California. Monica lives with her family in Arizona.

The Karla Harry Visiting Author program is held in memory of a beloved Gordon librarian, administrator and parent. The program provides Gordon students the unique experience of delving into the writer’s craft by working with nationally recognized authors and illustrators. It is supported by the Karla Harry Visiting Author Fund, which was established in 2006.

The residency coincides with the annual GCA Book Fair, and she will sign books at the fair all three days of her visit from 3:20 to 5:00pm. The Book Fair has free admission and is open to the public.