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I am so delighted to be able to combine my love for picture books with my love for telling a story to create Jamal and Me, Playground Heroes and Talking Buddies.
My name is Carol Franks-Randall, and I have spent over 35 years as an educator in New York. During that time, I worked with and taught children across the learning continuum. I relocated to Maryland’s Eastern Shore and I’ve continued my love for books and literacy development as a community volunteer, newspaper columnist, and podcaster. I am an avid reader and like to surround myself with books, books, and more books.
During my very active professional and personal life, I always had a particular love for picture books. Over the years I have amassed a rather large collection and aspired to write one someday. I always enjoyed read-alouds and took every opportunity to read to young children as a parent, grandparent, and educator. When I was an Elementary Principal, I started a Principal’s Book Club so my students and I could have a chance to talk about books.
After retirement, I began writing Jamal and Me (2017), which was inspired by experiences I had during my professional life. I think that children’s literature, particularly picture books, can be used to illustrate and illuminate social/emotional issues that plague our schools and greater community. My hope is that Jamal and Me will serve to remind its readers that moving children out of their learning environment the minute they “step out of line” may not be the answer.
My second book, Playground Heroes (2018), was inspired in part by my granddaughters Zoë and Elle, who are the protagonists in the book. My hope when I wrote this book was twofold: 1) to empower girls to be assertive and stand up to bullies when it is safe to do so, and 2) to showcase Black girls as protagonists and problem solvers and not merely bystanders.
My third book, Talking Buddies (2019), was written with two of my other grandchildren Tyler and Lila in mind. Tyler and Lila attend an English-Spanish dual-language school in an urban setting. When writing this book, I wanted to accomplish two things: 1) to put a spotlight on the journey a child from a foreign country encounters when leaving their native land and coming to ours, and 2) to showcase what I think is often overlooked in today’s polarized world – that there is “value-added” to having people from different countries come to our country. In Talking Buddies, Tyler and Lila learn Spanish from Alejandro, and Alejandro learns English from Tyler and Lila. My hope is that beginning this conversation with children at a young age will foster the kind of openness and acceptance that can be a struggle in our current political climate.
All of my books have subtle and not-so-subtle social justice themes that elicit rich conversations and revelations. While my books are geared towards children aged 4-8, I have found that older children can relate to the themes presented and enjoy them as well.
Connect with Carol Franks-Randall: Website | Amazon Page
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