{"id":176,"date":"2024-08-27T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=176"},"modified":"2024-08-27T10:35:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T10:35:00","slug":"the-journey-from-journalist-to-childrens-author-by-nathalie-alonso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"The Journey from Journalist to Children\u2019s Author by Nathalie Alonso"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

As a journalist, I wrote many true stories long before the idea of writing nonfiction for children crossed my mind. I was a junior in college back in 2006 when I joined the editorial team at LasMayores.com, the Spanish-language website of Major League Baseball. Since then, I\u2019ve been translating and producing articles and writing original baseball stories. I also freelance for various magazines and newspapers (including a byline in National Geographic<\/em> about tree rings that I love to brag about).<\/p>\n

Given my background in journalism, you might think that transitioning to writing children\u2019s picture books, especially nonfiction, would be a seamless process. After all, writing is writing, right?<\/p>\n

Well, yes and no.<\/p>\n

As a journalist, I had a grasp of writing fundamentals and I was used to presenting facts clearly and concisely. So, it\u2019s no surprise that my early drafts of picture books were bogged down with facts and figures\u2014my comfort zone. But picture books call for a kind of storytelling that\u2019s more sensory and emotionally engaging for young readers. One of my writing mentors, Leah Henderson, left a note on one of those early drafts that I often recall: Move all the facts to the backmatter, she said, and just \u201ctell me a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah was introducing me to the concept of narrative nonfiction. It took me a while to fully embrace this approach, which initially felt intimidating. I eventually realized that in nonfiction picture books, the story is the vehicle for the information. It\u2019s not just about what you\u2019re telling the reader, but how you\u2019re telling it.<\/p>\n

And as it turns out, \u201ctell me a story\u201d is pretty good journalism advice too. I don\u2019t know if being a journalist first has made me a better children\u2019s author, but being a children\u2019s author has definitely made me a better journalist.<\/p>\n

While separate, my professional work for MLB and my publishing endeavors sometimes overlap, especially when it comes to writing baseball biographies for kids. The title for my picture book biography of Afro-Puerto Rican baseball icon Roberto Clemente, Call Me Roberto!<\/em>, which focuses on how he stood up to bigotry and racism during his Hall of Fame career, is a good example.<\/p>\n

Initially, I titled early drafts Arriba, Roberto!<\/em>, inspired by the radio call heard in Pittsburgh whenever Clemente stepped up to bat for the Pirates. But during a workshop critique session, a fellow writer pointed out that the most powerful line in the book was \u201cMi nombre es Roberto\u201d (Spanish for \u201cMy name is Roberto\u201d). Roberto\u2019s insistence on being called by his given name, rather than the anglicized \u201cBob\u201d or \u201cBobby\u201d that the media often used, was one of the ways he asserted his identity and resisted attempts to erase his roots and heritage. So, I adopted that as my working title.<\/p>\n

When I first met with my editor, Carolyn Yoder, virtually in April 2021, we landed on Call Me Roberto!<\/em>, though I wasn\u2019t entirely sold on it at the time. I wondered if I was putting too much emphasis on a single detail or if focusing on respecting names would resonate. My meeting with Carolyn ended just in time for me to put on my journalist hat and join a virtual press conference with current Afro-Puerto Rican ballplayer Francisco Lindor, who had just signed a long-term contract with the New York Mets after being traded from Cleveland.<\/p>\n

During the call, Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose asked Lindor how he felt about being called \u201cFrankie,\u201d as some members of the Cleveland media had done. Here\u2019s what Lindor said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer Francisco. I like my name. Frankie, it\u2019s a little more Americanized for me. Frankie, it was fine. I never complained \u2026 but now I want my name, I want Francisco. My mom named me Francisco, my grandfather was Francisco, so Francisco it is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lindor didn\u2019t mention Clemente, but he didn\u2019t need to. Coming from an Afro-Puerto Rican player, the echo was loud and clear, and I knew then that I\u2019d chosen the right title for my book. I like to think of that moment as a wink from the universe that being both a journalist and a children\u2019s author is exactly who I\u2019m meant to be.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathalie\u00a0Alonso<\/strong>\u00a0is a Cuban American bilingual writer and journalist based in New York City. A seasoned baseball reporter, her writing has appeared in\u00a0National Geographic<\/em>,\u00a0Outside<\/em>, and\u00a0Refinery29<\/em>, among other outlets. She is currently a reporter and producer at MLB.com\u2019s Spanish-language sister site, LasMayores.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rudy Gutierrez\u00a0<\/strong>is an artist and children\u2019s book illustrator. He received the Pura Belpre Honor for Illustration for his work on\u00a0Papa and Me<\/em>\u00a0by Arthur Dorros, a Caldecott Honor for\u00a0Double Bass Blues<\/em>\u00a0by Andrea J. Loney, and the Am\u00e9ricas Book Award for\u00a0Pel\u00e9, King of Soccer<\/em>\u00a0by Monica Brown, among many other honors. Rudy teaches illustration at the Pratt Institute School of Design in New York City.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a journalist, I wrote many true stories long before the idea of writing nonfiction for children crossed my mind. I was a junior in college back in 2006 when I joined the editorial team at LasMayores.com, the Spanish-language website of Major League Baseball. Since then, I\u2019ve been translating and producing articles and writing original […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}