Monica Gunning

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Monica Gunning (born 1930) is a Jamaican American children's book author and poet. Her work deals with both the Caribbean of her childhood and the immigrant experience.

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Biography

Gunning was born in Jamaica in 1930. She moved to New York City at age 18. There, she studied at the City University of New York. [1] [2]

Her first book of poetry for children, Not a Copper Penny in Me House: Poems from the Caribbean, was published in 1993, with illustrations by Frané Lessac. [3] The anthology of 15 poems about Jamaican culture received a commendation from the Américas Awards for children's and young adult literature. [4] [5]

Subsequent works included Under the Breadfruit Tree: Island Poems (1998) and America, My New Home (2004). [6] [3] [7] Gunning brings her own experience as both a child in Jamaica and a young immigrant to the United States to her work. [8] [9] [10]

Her 2004 book about a girl and her mother dealing with homelessness, A Shelter in Our Car, was developed in collaboration with the Homeless Children's Network in San Francisco. [11] It received a Skipping Stones Honor Award in 2005 and an honorable mention from the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards in 2004. [12] [13]

A Shelter in Our Car was adapted into a children's musical by the New York theater company Making Books Sing in 2007. [14] [15]

Gunning also holds a master's in education from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles and has studied at the University of Guadalajara. [2] [7] She had a long career as an elementary school educator, working for many years as a bilingual teacher in Los Angeles and teaching English as a second language. She was also a training teacher at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. [16] [7] [2]

Selected works

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References

  1. ↑ "Monica Gunning". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  2. 1 2 3 "Monica Gunning". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  3. 1 2 "Monica Gunning". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  4. ↑ O'Brien, Jason. "Women's Voices from the Caribbean: An Annotated Bibliography". National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  5. ↑ "Annotated List of 1994 Titles" (PDF). Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP). 1994.
  6. ↑ "Shelter in Our Car". University of Washington Center for Philosophy for Children. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  7. 1 2 3 Vardell, Sylvia M. (2007). Poetry people : a practical guide to children's poets. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN   978-0-313-09474-3. OCLC   232575502.
  8. ↑ Roula Bousalis, Rina (2014-07-01). "The Portrayal of Immigrants in Children's and Young Adults' American Trade Books During Two Peak United States Immigration Eras (1880-1930 and 1980-2010s)". University of South Florida.
  9. ↑ Under the Breadfruit Tree. Kirkus Reviews. 1989-02-01.
  10. ↑ America, My New Home. Kirkus Reviews. 2004-11-15.
  11. ↑ J, Spun (2020-04-29). "It's a Big World After All: Diversity in Picture Books". Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  12. ↑ Gunning, Monica (January 2014). "Diverse Families: A Shelter in Our Car". University of Central Florida Libraries.
  13. ↑ "A Shelter In Our Car". Theater Mania. 2007. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  14. ↑ BWW News Desk (2006-12-19). "Children's Musical A Shelter in Our Car to Tour NYC". Broadway World. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  15. ↑ BWW News Desk (2007-01-12). "New Musical 'Shelter' to Play to Over 100 Homeless Families". Broadway World. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  16. ↑ McCarty, Marietta, 1947- (2006). Little big minds : sharing philosophy with kids. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN   978-1-58542-515-0. OCLC   71506823.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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