SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Celebrate the Day of the Dead!
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://deandabookshop.com/
CITY: Playa del Rey
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 376
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 27, 1943, in Los Angeles, CA.
EDUCATION:Mount St. Mary’s, B.A. and secondary teaching credential; University of California, Berkeley, M.S.W. and pupil personnel services credential; University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. (educational psychology), 1977.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Educator and author. Former junior high-school teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles, CA; Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles, professor of social welfare, beginning 1977, currently emerita. Former social worker.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:Second place, International Latino Book Awards, 2012, for The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories; Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2013, for A Day without Sugar/Un día sin azúcar; STEAM Multicultural Book Collection citation, 2013-2014, and Skipping Stones Honor Award and Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, both 2014, both for The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto; New York Public Library Best Book in Spanish (for Spanish edition) and First Book Title Raves, both 2019, and Patterson Prize for Young People, Latino Books into Movies citation, International Latino Book Awards finalist, and Skipping Stones Honor Award, all 2020, all for Mango Moon; International Latino Book Awards finalist, 2020, for The Day Abuelo Got Lost; Skipping Stones Honor Award and International Latino Book Awards finalist, both 2021, for 21 Cousins.
WRITINGS
Journal of Multicultural Social Work, editor for twelve years. Also author of flash fiction collection L.A. Flash. Author of program guides Violence Prevention for Adolescents: A Cognitive-Behavioral Program for Creating a Positive School Climate and Stress Management for Adolescents: A Cognitive-Behavioral Program. Contributor of poetry to children’s magazines; contributor of essays to Humor Times and Satire and Comment.
SIDELIGHTS
Writer and educator Diane de Anda is the author of a number of picture books for young readers. In works such as The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto, 21 Cousins, and Mango Moon, she pays tribute to her Latina heritage. As de Anda remarked to Daily Bruin correspondent Andrea Henthorn, “My mission [is] to get books out there where Latino children could see themselves and their families and see positive things about themselves.”
De Anda began her career teaching in a Los Angeles junior-high classroom before becoming a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Most people don’t like teaching junior high students, but I adored them,” de Anda recalled to Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the UCLA Newsroom. She became a social worker while earning her doctorate and a job teaching at the University of California allowed her to research teens issues and publish articles in scholarly journals. De Anda also began writing fiction, inspired by her storyteller grandparents.
De Anda’s first book, The Ice Dove and Other Stories, was published in 1997 and features two tales set during the Christmas holidays and two that take place in the classroom. In these “four strongly upbeat stories, Hispanic American children find strength in their loving extended families,” observed Hazel Rochman in appraising the work in Booklist.
Everyday life is also featured in The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories, a bilingual collection of six mysteries which turn out to have commonsense solutions. “As mysteries go, these are accessible and mild,” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books contributor Hope Morrison remarked, the critic recommending de Anda’s book “for reluctant readers in need of clear, basic narrative structure.” Roberto Zapata, reviewing the same work in School Library Journal, recommended The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories for “children who struggle with longer chapter books,” the critic adding that “the scenarios are amusing and … should have wide appeal.”
Family themes are de Anda’s focus in A Day without Sugar/Un día sin azúcar, as Tito and his cousins spend a day with their aunt. After the woman teaches the boys about their family’s risk of diabetes, she leads them on a hunt for the sugar hidden in several of their favorite foods. “Though the focus on sugar is apparent,” remarked a Kirkus Reviews critic, “an underlining theme of balancing nutrition with exercise rounds out” de Anda’s bilingual Spanish/English text. In Booklist, Angie Zapata wrote that the author’s focus on sugar “is balanced by an underlying theme: a loving Latino family invested in bettering their health.”
An Earth-friendly message about gardening and family togetherness forms the plot of de Anda’s The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto, another bilingual story. Tonia is charmed by her grandmother’s childhood memories of growing vegetables, and when they find a spot in their city neighborhood to plant their garden, they inspire others to do the same. With its “accessible and pleasing” story, according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto is “a worthwhile, eco-friendly bilingual” read-aloud choice.
Illustrated by Sue Cornelison, de Anda’s picture book Mango Moon offers “a realistic portrayal of a family torn apart,” in the words of a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Maricela struggles to cope with the drastic changes that occur after her father, an undocumented immigrant, is placed in a detention center while awaiting deportation. Her mother works two jobs in a futile effort to make ends meet, forcing Maricela and her little brother, Manuel, to stay behind locked doors at home until she returns. Miranda learns that they still feel their love just as they both share the glow of the mango moon no matter where they are. The Kirkus Reviews writer concluded that Mango Moon “validates a heartbreaking experience.”
The loving bond between a young boy and his grandfather is the focus of The Day Abuelo Got Lost, illustrated by Alleanna Harris. Luis and his abuelo have enjoyed each other’s company, building models and cooking meals together. When Abuelo, who has begun showing signs of memory loss, wanders away from the house, the family realizes that changes will be needed to protect his abuelo’s well-being. Luis learns that despite the changes in Abuelo, he will still feel his love. According to a contributor in Kirkus Reviews, The Day Abuelo Got Lost is “a touching and well-told story of the heartbreak of memory loss through the lens of family-oriented Latino culture.” School Library Journal critic Ruth Quiroa explained that the tale “will easily evoke conversations around a disease … in a way that otherwise may be difficult for young children to comprehend.”
de Anda celebrates diversity and inclusivity in her picture book 21 Cousins, which features colorful art by Isabel Muñoz. The tale’s sibling narrators introduce readers to the members of their large “mestizo” family, including Ruben, a drummer who sports dark, wavy hair; Catalina, an aspiring dancer; Mario, a tech guru; and Elena, who hopes to teach bilingual classes. “Latinx readers with diverse families will appreciate seeing themselves within these pages,” a writer observed in Kirkus Reviews.
In a Star Bright Books interview, de Anda commented, “What I hope readers take away from this book is not just an end to stereotyping, but an appreciation of diversity and all the wonderful assets this offers to society along with a desire to have all children develop their talents and abilities and make their contributions to society.”
de Anda notes that she draws on a variety of sources for her writings. As she remarked in her Star Bright Books conversation, “The inspiration has come from the stories of their lives told to me by my great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and other relatives, by the experiences of all the people who have confided in me both personally and professionally as a social worker and social work educator, and by my own experiences beginning in childhood. I find the everyday lives of people, their struggles and their joys, to be inspiring, rather than those whose lives have brought them fame.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 1, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of The Ice Dove and Other Stories, p. 328; August 1, 2012, Angie Zapata, review of A Day without Sugar/Un día sin azúcar, p. 83.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, June, 2011, Hope Morrison, review of The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories, p. 464; May, 2019, Deborah Stevenson, review of Mango Moon, p. 384.
Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2012, review of A Day without Sugar/Un día sin azúcar; April 1, 2013, review of The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto; April 15, 2019, review of Mango Moon; July 15, 2019, review of The Day Abuelo Got Lost; August 15, 2019, review of Who Am I?; February 15, 2020, review of What Am I?; April 1, 2021, review of 21 Cousins.
Publishers Weekly, May 24, 1999, review of The Immortal Rooster and Other Stories, p. 80.
School Library Journal, January, 2002, Ann Welton, review of Dancing Miranda, p. 129; September, 2004, Ann Welton, review of Kikirikí, p. 196; September, 2011, Roberto Zapata, review of The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories, p. 141; September, 2019, Ruth Quiroa, review of The Day Abuelo Got Lost, p. 94.
ONLINE
Daily Bruin, https://dailybruin.com/ (March 31, 2015), Andrea Henthorn, “Former Professor Pens Children’s Books Inspired by Cultural Identity.”
Diane de Anda website, https://deandabookshop.com (August 15, 2021).
Star Bright Books, https://starbrightbooks.com/blog/ (July 14, 2021), “Artist Spotlight: Diane de Anda.”
UCLA Newsroom, http://newsroom.ucla.edu/ (February 25, 2015), Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, “Social Welfare Professor Emerita Writes Award-Winning Children’s Books.”
As a young girl growing up in Los Angeles, Diane had her future planned; she would become a doctor during the day and a gypsy who danced on tables at night. Somehow, over the years, the plans changed a bit, and she became a teacher, first of children and teens, and, ultimately, a professor of social welfare at UCLA, teaching others how to work with children, teens, and their families. She has written numerous academic articles on adolescent issues, violence prevention and stress management programs for adolescents, and edited four books on multicultural social work.
Soon Diane began writing stories from the tales told to her by her great grandparents and grandmother about their experiences during the Mexican Revolution and beyond. Realizing the need for children’s books in which Latino children could see themselves and their families, she also began to write books where they were the main characters.
Many of her children’s books have won numerous awards:
The Patchwork Garden, Reading is Fundamental 2013-2014 STEAM Multicultural Book Collection; 2014 Skipping Stones Honor Award and the 2014 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People; A Day Without Sugar, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year 2013; The Monster in the Mattress, International Latino Book Awards 2012 and the Texas Star Reading List 2012-2015; Mango Moon, 2020 Skipping Stones Honor award; 21 Cousins, 2021 Skipping Stones Honor Award, International Latino book Awards finalist.
Diane still never goes to bed before 2 a.m., writing children’s books and short stories, poems, and essays published in magazines for adults and children. She likes to laugh and has her satires frequently published in Humor Times and has a book of funny and fantasy poems for children coming out next year. She loves a noisy household and it has always been filled with animals. Halloween is Diane’s favorite holiday when she turns her house into a haunted realm filled with witches, flying bats and moving, talking ghouls, ghosts, and goblins, who greet the 200 children who visit every year.
Diane’s acclaimed picture books 21 Cousins and Celebrate the Day of the Dead are now on the bookshelves. Diane’s newest, Night Blooming Jasmine, It Feels like Family and Yum, Yum, Mexico are in publication
Website: www.deandabookshop.com
No bio
Dr. Diane de Anda
Diane de Anda, MSW, Ph.D., is a retired UCLA professor. She served as editor of the Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work for twelve years, has edited four books dealing with issues related to ethnically diverse populations, and has published numerous articles in scholarly journals on issues of adolescent populations. She has authored two cognitive behavioral programs: Violence Prevention for Adolescents and Stress Management for Adolescents, which have been used with over 50,000 youth.
She has also continued to write and publish literary works over the years. Her short stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in Rosebud, Straylight, Storyteller, Saguaro, El Grito, Pacific Review, Bilingual Review, Copperfield Review and anthology, Ruminate, Third Wednesday Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Bottle Rockets, Presence , Beyond Words and others. She has published 13 children’s books (plus has 4 in press) many of which have won multiple awards. She has published satires in a number of magazines, most notably over 300 in Humor Times. She is the author of a collection of 40 flash fiction stories titled L.A. Flash featuring the multicultural, particularly Latino, population of Los Angeles. Her bicultural background, as a third generation Latina, is often evident in her work. She operates her own website de Anda Bookshop at https://deandabookshop.com/
DE ANDA, Diane. Celebrate the Day of the Dead! illus. by Gloria Felix. 28p. Crown. Jul. 2023. Board $9.99. ISBN 9780593647660.
PreS-Gr 2--This bright, happy book serves as a wonderful introduction to the Day of the Dead for young readers unfamiliar with the holiday and its traditions. Young Cristina takes readers through the entire day of celebrations, starting with decorating the home, then getting dressed in party clothes and making up the family's faces in bright colors to attend the parade. Traditional details of the parade, including colorful, beautiful costumes; music; and the many dancing, waving, "funny" skeletons are described. Next, Cristina goes to her Abuela and Abuelos house as they prepare food for the family altar and spend time together remembering their loved ones who have passed, both at the altar and later at the brightly lit cemetery. Felix's inviting illustrations of happy, cheerful family members decked out in the traditional vivid colors paired with de Andas simple, explanatory prose make an interesting and engaging window into Day of the Dead Celebrations. VERDICT Recommended as a first purchase for collections where holiday books about the Day of the Dead are lacking.--Kristy Pasquariello
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Pasquariello, Kristy. "DE ANDA, Diane. Celebrate the Day of the Dead!" School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 6, June 2023, p. 54. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A751405676/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=be530b43. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.