I had the opportunity to talk with three, very inspiring Latin American authors and illustrators of children's books, as part of my research process. I will share with you the most interesting bits of each interview below:
All interviews have been translated from Spanish to English.
Jairo Buitrago
How do you perceive the narrative in the picturebook, especially what makes it different from more traditional forms of storytelling?
J: It uses images and they work in symbiosis with the text, if not without a text at all, to tell a story. But I don't think it's such a non-traditional narrative, that's a myth. The picturebook has been on the publishing market for quite a few years now, and the narrative of images is almost as old as humanity. Academics and publishers discovered it late in Latin America, perhaps. What is innovative are the proposals on visual literacy, which are made by academia and pedagogy.
What are the benefits of the image-word duality in the picturebooks?
J: Many virtues; the complexity of maintaining several levels of reading, the advantage of profiling the characters deeply from the graphic part, the handling of the unknown and the possibility of experimenting with the narrative.
What elements of the picturebook make it appealing to a young and adult audience?
The possibility of reading stories in interactive formats and the fact that the demand for the books has shown that there are no age distinctions. The same book is understood and enjoyed differently depending on the age of the reader. The reading of images, for those who do not have a reading habit, can be something attractive as well.
Yuyi Morales
From what I've noticed in your work, you're a very creative and dynamic person; you like to use different artistic mediums in your projects. How do you think the different mediums change the perception of how to 'read' or understand the book?
Y: I think they change it significantly, which is precisely why every book for me is an opportunity for exploration, even in the elements of language. I don't feel at all married to one way of illustrating. I feel much more committed to the experimentation and discovery of how this particular story can be told. It also excites me! It excites me to think of something that I haven't done before, that I have no idea how to do, but to learn how to do it. I do believe that something that is very constant in my work is the great benefit of my ignorance. I didn't study art, I didn't go to school for any of these things, and every book I do, every illustration and project is something new that I have to learn. I love it, it's a wonderful thing. I wouldn't miss the opportunity to learn how to make a new type of illustration, a book, or to seek, explore, recognize and honor new, and also old, ways of creating.
How do you start writing a story? Where does the inspiration or motivation to write about social issues come from? (In this case, your book Dreamers)
Y: Well, sometimes I'm not sure what the answer to that question is. I don't know if it happens to you that when you create something, we hardly know where it comes from, and until you finish it you realize that maybe we dreamt about it. It's only later that you start making connections. In the case of Dreamers, it's a little more specific, because it is based on my own immigration history. There was a lot of push from my publisher, as well as my agent, to do this book, and at the same time I had no idea what it was going to be about because I had to tell a story of an adult person who came to a new country, which suddenly didn't seem to me to be 'the most fertile ground' for a children's book. But that's my job, to make children's books. So whatever the subject matter, I'll see how I integrate it into children's literature. In this case, I felt very pushed by the social situation and all the immigration policies that were happening in the United States after Trump was elected president. And that was totally what pushed me to tell this story, in a way that a child could relate to it. But truthfully, I wasn't very motivated that my story could be turned into a children's book. It never stemmed from the idea of "I'm going to do my autobiography," it actually solidified from another place, from a place of being able to use my voice in the way that I know how to use it, which is to make books, to talk about something that is important to me, which is the perception that we have, even ourselves, of who we are as immigrants.
I wanted to give my own version of who I am, as an immigrant, and to throw out there an invitation for all the children to look at their own history, both migrant and non-migrant, but especially those children who are immigrants. So they could look at their own history and feel the right to be able to honor it by telling it in a book.
What do you think about excluding certain topics in children's books because they are too complex or violent (for example: armed conflict, gangs, cartels, etc.)?
Y: I don't think there are taboo subjects. I do believe that there is a way in which we can talk to children about these topics. I believe that children experience the world and all its issues, every day, even if they don't know it. They live through war, violence, sexuality, among many other things. It's not as if they live in a bubble where these things don't exist, so I don't see why our books should pretend that these issues don't exist for them. Children can have books on any subject from a viewpoint they can manage and won't destroy them. We are not going to put a book that is going to leave a child emotionally devastated; we are talking about the most delicate part of humanity.
But no, I don't believe in taboo subjects. What I do believe there is, and should be, is a great respect for the readers. The stories we make are for them should allow them to grow and not to destroy them. We have to be careful, not necessarily of the themes, but of our own violence, of us as authors or illustrators. We as authors and illustrators may be exercising violence on children when we make them invisible, or when we caricature them, or when we make their experiences null and void, or when we paint them in a way that does not coincide with their experience, when we try to speak for voices that do not honor and respect the children's experience.
Have you gotten comments or feedback from children, or parents, who have identified with your stories?
Y: Yes, quite a lot, especially in the United States when I visit schools and libraries. More and more Latino families are the ones who feel identified, or feel the call to be there. It’s not only a sense of identification, but there is an outpouring of love, which impresses me. But I understand that the abundant love comes from that experience of feeling recognized.
Jorge Argueta
Many of your children’s books are bilingual. Why have you taken this decision of publishing books in both languages? (Spanish and English)
J: For me it is important to tell the stories in both languages because I talk about where I come from, but also where I am now. I define myself as an indigenous man. I was born in El Salvador, so for me it is extremely important to talk about my culture, my roots, my indigenousness, the joy, the pain, the suffering and the hope of our people…I was born and raised in the countryside; I come from a humble family where fortunately I had the joy of growing up surrounded by animals and nature, but I was also aware of the suffering of the people I lived with. People who lived very poorly. Sometimes there is a lot of joy within poverty itself, and a lot of hope as well. In my work, I try to not only focus on these injustices, but also to see hope. I believe that we have to face social problems with joy, hope and optimism, otherwise our bitterness will be reflected in our work.
How do you make sure that your stories stay in line with the social reality, which is often sad and unfair, but still suitable for children?
J: What I'm about to tell you is more or less the essence of my work: I don't think too much. I observe, I see and I write about what I am able to live in my own flesh. For example, in my most recent book, Caravan to the North, I lived this story because I am an immigrant myself. I came to the United States illegally, so I know that suffering, but also that joy and hope, even though sometimes we leave without knowing where we are going.
I can't ignore the pain of the children, the youth, or anyone else wherever I am. If I have the opportunity to write about injustice, I'm going to do it, and children are capable of understanding these topics. We can't fix the world for children if we don't talk about the injustices. If children are bombed, if they are denied food, if they are denied education, why can't you say it in a book? They are capable of understanding all this. The challenge is to be able to tell it without losing the essence of tenderness and hope.
Eleven years ago, Jorge founded the ‘Manyula International Festival of Children’s Poetry,’ in El Salvador, with the intention to get young children interested in poetry and literature. Apart from this, he also opened the ‘Library of Dreams (La Biblioteca de los Sueños)’ in San Jacinto, El Salvador, Argueta’s old neighborhood when growing up. This space was built with the intention to give children a safe space, to strengthen their spirits and to learn about their culture in a stimulating environment.
J: This library has been a dream of mine for years. When we started with the festival, I traveled across the 14 departments of El Salvador, visiting libraries, if there were any at all, but I realized that in most of these libraries there were no children's books. This lack of interest in the younger readers projects as a message of indifference, and the message that we are telling them is that we are not interested in their literary development…So I felt the need to do something about it. I started taking books back to El Salvador; books that the children could identify with. I didn’t want them to open up the books and see characters with blue eyes, white skin and blonde hair. I wanted them to realize that heroes could be people that dress like themselves, or their father and mother, and even like their grandfather…People that have brown skin, people that share their same culture and beliefs.
Here are some interesting links to find more information about these three incredible authors and illustrators:
Jairo Buitrago– Jairo Buitrago y La Literatura Infantil (Spanish)
Yuyi Morales– Dreamers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnvawFu-qDA&ab_channel=NormanRockwellMuseum
Jorge Argueta– 'Library of Dreams' Brings Books, Safe Space to Kids in El Salvador https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/children-gang-ravaged-el-salvador-explore-library-dreams-n683506
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