Bianca with Julie Fogliano, Molly Idle, and Juana Martinez-Neal on I Don't Care

In this episode, it's a trifecta of guests! Two are Caldecott Honor Book winners Molly Idol and Juana Martinez-Neal, and the third is Newyork Times bestselling author Julie Fogliano. They're here to talk about their picture book collaboration I Don't Care, a beautiful, lyrical story of friendship that has received multiple-starred reviews.

Julie Fogliano is the New York Times bestselling author of, among other titles, And Then It’s Spring, and If You Want to See a Whale, and Just in Case You Want to Fly,  illustrated by Christian Robinson. Recipient of the 2013 Ezra Jack  Keats award and two Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors, her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives in the Hudson  Valley with her husband and three children.

Molly Idle's work as an author-illustrator includes the Caldecott Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo, Flora and the Penguin, Flora and the Peacocks, Flora and the Chicks, Flora and the Ostrich, and Tea Rex, Camp Rex, Sea Rex, and Santa Rex, among other books, including Pearl,  an original fable about a mermaid who learns the power of one small act. She lives with her family in Arizona.

Juana Martinez-Neal is the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Honor-winning book Alma and How She Got Her Name. She also illustrated La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya, for which she won a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, Babymoon by Hayley Barrett, Swashby and the Sea by Beth Ferry, and Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, which won a Robert F. Sibert Medal. Juana  Martinez-Neal lives in Connecticut with her family. 

Transcription:

You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review here.

Order copies:

I Don't Care on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

Resources:

Visit Jule Fogliano at juliefogliano.com.

Visit Molly Idle at idleillustration.com.

Visit Juana Martinez-Neal  at juanamartinezneal.com.

Discussion Topics:

• Things that motivate Julie Fogliano to write for children
• The intersectionality of working and motherhood
• Inspirations and the writing and editing process for I Don't Care
• When two illustrators collaborate on one picture book
• The illustration process behind I Don't Care
• Author and Illustrator highlights from I Don't Care
• Thoughts on friendship, individuality, and togetherness