Exploring Life Connections Through Art and Nature with Juana Martinez-Neal

You know Juana Martinez-Neal as the recipient of the 2019 Caldecott Honor for Alma and How She Got Her Name, her debut picture book as author-illustrator. You might also know her as the New York Times bestselling illustrator recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal for Fry Bread: A Native American Story and the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration for La Princesa and the Pea. I first fell in love with La Princesa and the Pea as a spark for early childhood and elementary STEM/STEAM challenges, then quickly collected some of Juana’s other works, such as Swashby and the Sea and Zonia’s Rainforest as inspirations for more STEM/STEAM goodness in the classroom. In addition to chatting about her two newest books, I am also so excited to share that Juana and I are going to be teammates on a Children’s Book Creators for Conservation Wild Tomorrow expedition to South Africa this fall.

Join us as we delve into the vibrant world of Juana Martinez-Neal, an award-winning author/illustrator whose passion for art and the environment takes us on a journey from the diverse landscapes of Peru to the dust plumes of the Sahara.  Juana discusses her newest books, Paka Paka con la Papa, a biography of potato hunter Alberto Salas, and A Gift of Dust, highlighting the environmental impact of Sahara dust plumes. She shares her commitment to aligning creative endeavors with personal values and the inspiration behind her collaborations, including a partnership with friend and fellow illustrator Molly Idle on Julie Fogliano's I Don't Care. Juana's stories of personal growth, travel dreams, and artistic expressions offer listeners a rich tapestry of insights and inspirations.

Chapter Highlights:

01:47: Paka Paka con la Papa

04:38: A Gift of Dust

05:59: The natural world as connecting thread through Juana's artistry

07:58: How Juana approaches her creative process

11:20: The joys and surprises of the research process with examples from Paka Paka con la Papa and Fry Bread: A Native American Story

15:24: Sponsor Ad

17:24: Collaborating on  I Don't Care with Molly Idle

21:41: Adventures await in South Africa with Children’s Book Creators for Conservation and Wild Tomorrow 

23:55: Upcoming projects

26:10 The enduring appeal of Alma, star of Alma and How She Got Her Name 

30:49: Let's talk about HOPE

Links:

Follow Juana Martinez-Neal on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Juana Martinez-Neal's website

Explore her latest books:  Paka Paka con la Papa and A Gift of Dust

Learn more about Children’s Book Creators for Conservation and the Wild Tomorrow trip to South Africa 

Transcript

00:02 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
So welcome to the Adventures in Learning podcast. I have such a treat for you today. I'm kind of geeking out because we have award-winning illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal with us today and I have been using her books for STEM and STEAM with kids since I was at a children's museum.

00:19 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
 Thank you, diane. Thank you for having me.

00:36 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I am so excited to have you here. You have two brand new books out this spring. Can you tell us a little bit about those new books?

00:45 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Yes, absolutely. 

00:47
Yes, that is true, I have Paca, paca con la Papa. It's actually the full name of the book. It's Alberto Salas' Paca Paca con la Papa, and it's this one right here, written by Sara Fajardo Sal Andrea Fajardo and illustrated by me. Illustrated by me. It's coming out in also. It was released simultaneously in Spanish as Alberto Salas Juega a la Paca Paca con la Papa. 

01:13
This is a book about. It's supposed to be a biography of Alberto Salas, who is who I call a potato hunter, and he's one of those people who very few actually but one of those people who very few actually, but one of the people that go hunting for new varieties of potatoes. He is actually responsible for finding 60% of the varieties that we grow, that we know that we grow in Peru, wow. And one thing that is really interesting is that this number of varieties that are growing through keeps growing and growing and growing, and that's thanks to people like Alberto, who goes and finds them. It's a hunt against human development, basically, because if you build whatever variety is under there, when you're building, you know, putting cement over ground, over dirt and soil then that potato variety will be forever gone and we won't even know that it was gone right. So it's an important book. It's an important work that he does and at the same time, it's really fun, and I think the title encapsulates a lot of it. 

02:31
Pakapaka is hide-and-seek in Quechua, which is the language that was used during the Incas, but it's also the language that is used throughout most of South America, mainly because the Incas established language when they, you know, grew. So a little bit of that, just a little bit of paka, paka con la papa. I love saying the name too.

02:55 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
 Yeah, I love the way it sounds, right, I? 

02:59
love the fact that it's telling a story that hasn't been told yet. 

03:11 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and um and sada actually worked at the cip I call it the international institute of potato, but there's a center, international center of potato, I think it's called cip center. But yeah, um, and they worked together because obviously he was bringing the, the varieties, back to the, to the potato center in Lima, and she also worked there just before she started writing books, so they have a relationship that is personal. 

03:38
Um, I got a chance to go back in 21 and meet with Alberto, so that was very special too. I needed to be there and then meet him in order to make the book about him. So that's Paka Paka con la Papa. It's Roaring Brook Press came out March 18th 2000,. This year, 2025. The one that is coming next is A Gift of dust written by martha brockenborough. Um, ill story by me comes out with kanav, and this is also simply non-fiction too. Is is the sahara plumes. It basically studies goes over the sahara blooms and how you know that does travels throughout the world, from Chad or you know that part of Africa, all the way to South America, central and South America, to make the rainforest and the Caribbean as green and as amazingly diverse as they are. Because that does carry phosphorus and that's what makes the area so rich, part of what makes the area so beautiful. So those are the two books that's coming out May 27th 2025. 

04:59 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I'm looking forward to seeing that and it feels, as I'm looking at sort of your most recent work and particularly these two books, that there's almost a threat of environmentalism. Looking forward to seeing that and it feels, as I'm looking at sort of your most recent work and particularly these two books, that there's almost a threat of environmentalism or of reverence for the earth that has shown up in your art and in your work. Am I reading that correctly? 

05:16 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
it has not changed, it's always been. Yeah, it's Sonia's dad. I mean, even even within Alma, you know you have some sort of respect for you know those who came before you and the earth and everything. So, yeah, I've been always passionate about it. It's just good to have the projects that come to my table and that align in that way. It takes some time to find them or for them to come to me, but it happens and if you're patient you'll find the right projects for you. 

05:57 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And at this point in your career I assume you have a little more say over which projects you pick up and do. Is that correct? I think you have it at more say over which projects you pick up and do. Is that correct? 

06:07 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
I think you have it at every point in your career. I think that's a responsibility in some way that we have. We need to find the projects that align with who you are and what you believe in and what you sort of have as a mission right in your work, sort of have as a mission right in your work. Um, it's scary and and and in some ways is nerve wrecking because you have saying no to projects can be scary because you don't know if something else, if something else is coming, you know after that and of course something else is coming, um. But it's scary when you're starting um, that if you say no to this one project because it's just not quite perfect, would I have something that is just right for me after. And they will, it will happen, yeah. 

06:58 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And tell us a little bit about sort of your process when a project comes to you, like with these two new books, because for both of these you were the illustrator, not the author. Illustrator yes, that's correct. How does that work for you when you get a manuscript and sort of start dreaming and thinking about what it looks like? 

07:16 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
I get an email from my agent and she attaches the letter of introduction that she received with this manuscript. I go over that email and then I move on to reading the manuscript. When I read the manuscript, I know immediately if it's a book for me or not. One of the key elements to know that it's a book for me is that I'm able to read through the whole manuscript, because sometimes I can't through the whole manuscript, because sometimes I can't. Another aspect of knowing something else that tells me that it's the right project is that as I'm reading, I see images in either people or colors or emotions. I need to see it, I need to feel it as I'm reading. If that happens, if I have an emotional reaction to it, absolutely that's the book for me. Those images tell a lot, tell me a lot. We go ahead and say it's the right project. Then it sits there for probably a while until I get to that moment when it's time to work on that project. I work, I sign contracts ahead of time, so sometimes it takes a few years before I can actually between the time that I sign and the time that I work on it. So once it's time to work on it, it's. 

08:47
I think that I need to understand the emotion behind the story that I'm reading, and that's to me, that's my starting point. What do I feel? What emotion do I want the reader to feel when they read this book? And as picture books are for children who are new to learning to reading or who are not reading yet, right images are so important. So I move on to emotion. And how do I communicate that emotion? And that translates to palette, textures, materials. What am I going to use to communicate these? And then I start sketching and, honestly, I take a little longer, most of the time, a little longer sketching the project than actually working on the final art. And that happens because during the sketching stage, I'm already thinking about colors, materials, textures, all of that. So, yeah, I mean, that's the process, that's the process of working. 

10:02 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Yeah and then I know, like with Paka Paka you had to do some research to sort of understand the person you were representing. And with Gift of Dust, I'm assuming you had to do a little bit of research into what those wins looked like and sort of their impacts. 

10:20 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Absolutely. I think that's I love that part. Research is one of my favorite parts of every book. The more I was thinking about that just yesterday, the more I was thinking about that just yesterday. The more I make books, the more I realized that how much I love research. I was doing it from the very beginning. I just was not aware that I love research so much, but now it's just a given. I mean it's like I have to do research so much, but now it's just a given. I mean it's like I have to do research, either patterns or what you know, what dust looks under the microscope, or um, what do the varieties of potatoes look like, the different varieties of potatoes, what the the plants look like, and and I am lucky to have the team to help me, because I always get the support from the publisher, from the author, that if they have some information they just pass it on to me, which makes it a little easier, right. 

11:27 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Yeah, that's how it is. So, with Paka Paka, did you try different varieties of potatoes as well? Did you discover you have a new favorite? 

11:36 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
um well, I've always had a new favorite potato. That's, that's a given. I I love the papa maria, which is this really tiny uh potato. It's small but when you cut it it's bright and it's the best potato for mashed potato. I mean, it's the best potato you can use for mashed potatoes. It's the potato they use for mashed potatoes in Peru and that's my favorite, no doubts, for Paca, paca con la Papa they speak about. The story talks about him trying to find the Papa Sorra, which is one of the varieties. So we had to share some information about what they look like and the plant and the flowers. They're very similar, but flowers could be slightly different and the leaves maybe the shape of the leaves. So it was very specific that we needed to represent the papa sorra, so it was like that. 

12:38 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Yeah, and when you did fry bread I you know I loved the way you showed all the different families and different types of families and different ways that fry bread was used with families. I imagine the research into that also was fairly intensive to be able to represent accurately. 

12:59 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
One of the reasons why I decided to choose to illustrate fry bread is because I felt very familiar in some way. Historically, in Peru, we have Indigenous people and historically they have been mistreated and pushed aside right For years, centuries, and it's something that I grew up being very aware of and that my dad always openly talked about. Racism is really, really, really terrible in South America. It's embedded in the country and it's so unconscious in the country and is so unconscious. You're so unaware of how, whatever things we are doing that may seem natural are just racist. You'll get to learn that later, right, but that's how it is. So when I read that line the stolen land it shook me because it felt very familiar. 

14:15
The rest of the story, what I was doing, is I was illustrating family get-togethers, my family get-together. So it was something that I knew, something that we shared. That was, I mean, this big get-together who just get together to cook and everybody has a job. Either it's peeling eggs or peeling potatoes, or cutting onions, or doing whatever you need to do, depending on your age and what you're capable of doing, right. Or mixing making mayo right, like we make mayo from scratch. We don't get it from the store. Right, like we make mayo from scratch, we don't get it from the store, right, or whatever it is that you need to do. You assist someone or get your job done to get this big meal done, and when it's time to eat, you all eat together and then you stay there and you stay for seconds, and you stay for thirds, and then you prepare us what we call lunche, which is like a tea time type of thing, and then you have dinner and then the kids fall asleep and then you take them home to sleep, right, because you spend the whole day together. 

15:26
But yeah, I mean in that way that felt familiar and easy for me to illustrate. Um, there were aspects of it that were the cultural aspects of the of the story where I needed help. I needed you know, I needed kevin's help because I am not I am not from oklahoma, I am not native Oklahoma, I am not Native Black. There's so many aspects that I had to learn from him, but he was so gracious and shared information that was actually included in the illustrations. It was an amazing team effort and I think that's my favorite part of making books the working together. Like things get so much better when you're working with just not you alone, but more people helping you. 

16:24 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Well, and speaking of that collaborative effort, I know that you and your best friend, Molly actually worked on a book together. How did that come about, that you were able to partner with somebody that you love working with it? 

16:38 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
was it was. Actually it was right behind you is I Don't Care. I Don't Care was. It's written by Julie Folliano, who I admired for a very, very, very, very like. I love her writing. And actually the story was offered to Molly. It was going to be published, was published with Neil Porter Books. So Neil offered this story to illustrate to Molly and Molly thought that, as the story is about two friends, you know she was going. 

17:13
We always talk about what it would have been like if we were best friends when we were little, because we met when we were in our 30s and um. So she had the idea of illustrating me and her when we were little. And as she's having that idea, she she thought, well, who would be best to illustrate Juana herself. She sends me a text and says, hey, do you want to illustrate a book together? And I'm petrified because I don't know what she's talking about. 

17:42
And then one thing is to be friends with someone. Another thing is to work with a person. It's a very different thing and I get scared. I really do not because of what she would do, but what I would do right or not do right. I get really nervous about it. And within a half an hour. She had texted me, but she had also emailed her agent, who had emailed Neil, who had emailed Julie, and they all had agreed that it was a great idea. But Molly heard back saying, yeah, we love the idea, but she had not heard back from me, not yet. But that's how, I Don't Care, happened Really, that's how it happened. So it was just Molly. 

18:32 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Did you have fun working together to create? 

18:34 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Yes, it was. We signed in, I think it was 19,. We signed a contract but we didn't get to work until 2020. 2020 or 2021, maybe, maybe it was 21. 

18:52
Because, as we are going to start working on thumbnails and ideas, I tell Molly that I'm moving, I'm leaving Phoenix Because we only live 25 minutes away. So part of the whole idea was, oh, they can get together. Neil thought, okay, yeah, they can figure out themselves, they can you know. We told they can figure out themselves, they can you know. We told them I mean, we can work in my studio, we can work in Molly's studio, we're only 25 minutes away. And but then I tell Molly that I was moving to Connecticut because COVID happened and we were trying to escape Phoenix. We really were, so we made it work. You know, it was one of those moments when you have to do what you have to do right and like. We made it work. 

19:40
We did four swaps of art because we couldn't physically get together, so we would email or text and then decide things and then work, and then it will swap the. We did half. I was working on half the book, she was working on half the book, then we swapped, so we worked on our own parts and our own parts and then we swapped again and then we had a last run and I was finishing my last part right before I was leaving for Peru to meet Alberto. So I chipped the artwork and then immediately left because I had a deadline. I mean, I had to that artwork before leaving and I chipped the artwork and left. 

20:28 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Yeah, and it connects to Paka Paka. Kanlapapa because you finished one as you started another. 

20:40 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Yeah, pretty much. 

20:41 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that, so I know that you like to travel and you've got a big trip coming up in September. You're the one keeping the days. How many days are we at now? 

20:58 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Oh, that's a good one, Hold on, we have. I have an app and the app tells me okay, it is. I'm going to tell you here it is 128 days, 128. Yeah. 

21:07 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And we'll be traveling with Wild tomorrow and some pretty amazing children's literature, authors and illustrators, including Molly, and I'm wondering sort of what drew you to that trip, what made you want to go to South Africa? 

21:23 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
I've been talking to Molly about going to Africa as a continent forever and I mean it's one of those things that I want to do, but I didn't know if it was going to happen. I knew eventually it would happen, but I just didn't know how or when. But sometimes you just have those ideas and I kept talking to people and I even met a librarian who said, hey, if you need somebody to go to Africa, just tell me, I'll go with you. And I was seriously considering doing that and and. But I was like no, I have to wait. I mean, I have to be patient. And I think it was three years ago. 

22:00
I was at Society of Elves Faders at the opening show for the, the original art show, and Hayley and John were there and I I don't know who. Oh, molly was talking to Hayley. I hadn't met Hayley yet, but we have met, but we haven't talked very much. And I am a person that takes time to warm up to people. I take my time. So Molly turns around and says, hey, fana, you want to go to Africa. And I'm like, what? What are you talking about? I have that perfect thing for you. 

22:39
And then she tells me about it and I'm like, oh god, I'm contemplating it, but I am, as I said, I need my time. So I said, no, I can't go on this one, but I'm going on the next one. So that's how it happened. Yeah, I could not go on the first one because there's too much thrown at me at once. I mean just I had to see and figure it out and then run all my what ifs, you know, and have some time to figure that out. So we're going now and then. I can't wait and I'm very excited. It will, be honestly, a dream come true. 

23:16 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I keep pinching myself because I learned about the trip. I interviewed Candy Fleming for the podcast right after she had come back from South Africa and she was just filled with the joy of all that she had seen and learned and what she wanted to do. And, like you, this has been a dream of mine to visit Africa and I didn't know how or where or how that was going to happen. 

23:38
And I'm still pinching myself with the idea we're going to be going and able to learn and to teach and to share and to write. I just I can't get over how cool this is going to be. 

23:51 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
It should be interesting. It will be interesting. 

23:55 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I'm very excited. Do you have any special projects? You're working on. 

24:02 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Right now I am working on a new I'm actually painting the pieces for the new Alma board books, number five. This is number five and um, it's about animal sounds. So I'm working on that one and I'm working on another book with Molly that should be coming out next year. And then I'm working on a third have a blend of the monarchs but also people, so it's about migration. I'm excited about that book, very excited about that book too. 

24:49 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
It sounds like you've got lots of great projects in the works. I know Alma was your first foray into being an author illustrator and it wound up being hugely successful. It was honored with numerous awards and you've had the spinoffs in terms of the board books and other books for kids. What makes Alma so special?

25:10 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
 That's a good question. 

25:13
I don't know, I don't know. 

25:15
I think she feels very real and I think part of it is that Alma started being me, like the main character was not Alma, it was me, but because I'm an introvert, it took a while to. I kept getting stuck and so then I step away from the project and come back with the idea of Alma. I don't know how, but it came up the idea of, okay, what if it's not my name, what if it's somebody else's name, and I get to introduce, you know, to include my family. But then Alma becomes a blend of me when I was little, and my daughter, and something about that blend just feels very real and and she has a personality and she has a, you know, a very interesting point of view of all the world in my head, right, uh, and I don't know, she feels very, very real to me. Yeah, I don't know if you heard, ever heard about mafalda. 

26:26
Mafalda is a character that I grew up with and and it was a comic strip by kino. He was from argentina, was from Argentina, and Mafalda is this little girl who is very opinionated. If you ever get the chance to read the comics, they are brilliant and they are just releasing, if not already released, the translated, the whole comic strip, the whole set of books, but in English I have not seen them, but I used to read them in Spanish and she has these. I mean, she's aware of what's happening with the world and she knows that we are hurting so much. And this is the 60s, the 70s. So they were. 

27:10
She was opinionated, she really was. She had very strong opinions about everything and she had a best friend called Libertad, which is freedom, and she was really was. She had very strong opinions about everything, and she had a best friend called Libertad, which is freedom, and she was really small. Because they were from Argentina and they were going through, you know, a lot of problems, but you know, sometimes I think about that. I think about Mafalda and how much I loved it and how important of a character it was growing up and still is, because I still have the books that maybe in some way that's my Mafalda. I don't know, I don't know. 

27:44 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I don't know. You know, and you said at the start of our interview, part of Alma is the connection. You know, that sense of connection to those who came before, sense of connection to those who came before, and I wonder if we're not all yearning for that sense of connection and being seen that Alma gives us too. 

28:05 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
We yearning for the connection to be seen. 

28:10 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I think we're yearning for connection in terms of connection to family, connection to each other, and I wonder if Alma gives us a way to sort of enter into that a little bit. 

28:21 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe that's what it is. But I mean, the thing with Alma is that she feels very deeply and very naturally right, like she just shows you that she loves you. She just hugs you, she just squeezes you. She just very naturally right, like she just shows you that she loves you. She just hugs you, she just squeezes you, she just loves you right, exactly Like a child, like any child would do, like there's no, ooh, what are they going to think about me? It's just, she just does things right and she's very honest and natural and maybe that's what we need as adults. You know, it's something that we, we've lost that ability, yeah yeah, but connection yeah we absolutely need connection. 

29:09
We absolutely we need this, and this is something that I feel is very much from the US, that the sense of community is so important and so not there. Yes, in our strive to be independent and successful or, I don't know, have a busy life or full life, we forget that what holds us together is community. You know those people who are there all the time to support you, who will love you, who accept you as you are, and it's relationships that is the most important. 

29:49 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Absolutely, and it takes effort to build those relationships. It really does. It's where you allocate your time, and I agree with you all right. Last question for today and it's a question I love to ask people and it feels like it's an important one right now um, what currently brings you hope? 

30:10 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
what my work, absolutely my work, absolutely my work. Yes, yeah, I could have like today. I was worried. I woke up and I was worried this morning and I sat down and I had a halfway finished piece of Alma and I you know, for the board book, and I looked at it and he like, built me with joy and, yeah, my work, my work is so, so good. I love nature, I love being able to be outside, I love music, all those things like help me survive, stay, you know, be grounded. At the same time, yeah, um, disconnect, but not really right. Like the music disconnects me but at the same time, the lyrics ground me back to like this is how the world works. 

31:04 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I don't know, it may sound silly, but that's what it feels like yeah, it feels like you take time for wonder and joy. I have to. 

31:15 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
Yeah, I have to, we all have to, we need to. Yeah, I have to, we all have to, we need to. 

31:17 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Yeah Well, thank you for joining us on the Adventures in Learning podcast today. Your works bring us wonder and joy and we can't wait to see what's coming next.

31:26 - Juana Martinez-Neal (Co-host)
 Thank you so much, Diane