Bernier-Grand, Carmen T. 1947-

views updated

Bernier-Grand, Carmen T. 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born November 22, 1947, in Coamo, Puerto Rico; daughter of Segundo (an accountant) and Julia (a store manager) Bernier; married Jeremy H. Grand (a system specialist), May 10, 1975; children: William, Juliana Grand Kelly. Ethnicity: "Latina." Education: Catholic University of Puerto Rico, B.S., 1968; University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, M.S., 1972; doctoral study at University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1973-75.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Portland, OR. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Puerto Rico, Cayey, instructor in mathematics, 1971-78; ADP Dealer Services, Portland, OR, computer programmer, 1978-81; children's author, 1994—. Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA, instructor, 1975-76; Community of Writers, Portland, speaker, 1999—; also speaker at various schools and conferences.

MEMBER:

Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Willamette Writers.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Blue ribbon, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, for Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico; book of the year citation, El Nuevo Día, for Poet and Politician of Puerto Rico: Don Luis Muñoz Marín; Smithsonian notable book citation, for In the Shade of the Níspero Tree; notable book citation, American Library Association, Pura Belpré Honor Award, and citations for notable social studies trade book and book for a global society, all for César: ¡Sí, se puede!/Yes, We Can!

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN

Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico, illustrated by Ernesto Ramos Nieves, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

Poet and Politician of Puerto Rico: Don Luis Muñoz Marín, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Who Helped Ox?, illustrated by Vivi Escrivá, Scholastic Phonics Readers (New York, NY), 1997.

In the Shade of the Níspero Tree, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Shake It, Morena: Folklore from Puerto Rico, illustrated by Lulu Delacre, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002.

César: ¡Sí, se puede!/Yes, We Can!, illustrated by David Diaz, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2004.

Frida: ¡Viva la Vida!/Long Live Life!, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2007.

Work represented in anthologies, including Writers in the Kitchen, compiled by Tricia Gardella, Boyd's Mill, 1998; Period Pieces: Stories for Girls, selected by Erzi Deak and Kristin Embry Litchman, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003; Once upon a Cuento, edited by Lyn Miller-Lachman, Curbstone Press, 2003; and Translations: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World, edited by Jan Greenberg, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2007. Contributor to periodicals, including Faces and Spider.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carmen T. Bernier-Grand told CA: "Today I am celebrating public libraries. Everybody is rich in the United States. We are rich even when we are poor, because we can read books for free.

"Today I am celebrating bookstores. When I was growing up on Ponce, Puerto Rico, our tiny bookstore had no children's books, but it sold comics.

"Today I am celebrating Little Lulu, Archie, and Donald Duck. I looked at the pictures and made up my own stories.

"Today I am celebrating my sister who told me that I was liar because I was always making up stories. I had to prove to her that I wasn't.

"Today I am celebrating authors and books and the monkeys in Caps for Sale, the first story I remember reading in English in a school anthology.

"Today I am celebrating my mother who recited ‘Margarita está linda la mar’ and sat by me every night so I could read out loud to her in English, my weakest subject. It wasn't until years later I realized that she didn't know English. But her warmth stayed with me.

"Today I am celebrating my father who told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. I could even be a mathematician. That I became. And I learned to research and use logic to plot my stories.

"Today I am celebrating the cute Oregonian who sat by me at a math party at the University of Connecticut. We married and moved to Oregon, where I began to write.

"Today I am celebrating my now grownup children who heard my stories again and again.

"Today I am celebrating the encouragement and help from the members of my writing groups.

"Today I am celebrating the educators who told the publishers that we needed books that reflected diversity in the classrooms.

"Today I am celebrating the publishers who opened the doors to diversity.

"Today I am celebrating my readers, because they are the best awards."