Author Mélina Mangal on Social Emotional Learning – plus a GIVEWAY! « Lydia Lukidis
Author Mélina Mangal on Social Emotional Learning – plus a GIVEWAY!
Hello world!!
Welcome to my blog, Blissfully Bookish. You’re in for a treat today because I got to interview another fellow colleague who shares the same agent as myself (Miranda Paul). Please welcome author Mélina Mangal, here to chat about her latest board books, Birds Sing Their Words and Trees Stand Tall, illustrated by Stella Lim and published by Free Spirit.
BUT first- YAY! Mélina is generously giving away a FREE manuscript critique (1000 words for nonfiction and 800 words for fiction, double-spaced, 12 point type). To be eligible to win, please enter the Rafflecopter contest by clicking HERE. Contest ends June 13, 2025.
Please describe the journey to publication and inspiration for Birds Sing Their Words and Trees Stand Tall.
I’ve been very fortunate to work with such an amazing team at Free Spirit Publishing. They’d published two picture books of mine: Jayden’s Impossible Garden and Jayden’s Secret Ingredient, both illustrated by Ken Daley. When they approached me about writing a series of board books, I was thrilled, but also intimidated. I know how important brevity is for board books and how each word needs to be the right word, just like for picture books, except the idea felt weightier to me because board books are often a child’s first introduction to books!
I love being out in nature and wanted to highlight the flora and fauna that city kids can experience. Because birds can be seen and heard almost everywhere, I thought that highlighting them would be a great way to begin exploring nature in your own neighborhood. Similarly, I love trees and they hold a special fascination for babies and toddlers. Trees are steadfast beings that we tend to overlook but I wanted to draw attention to them to spark appreciation and foster connections.
What message would you like the book to impart to children?
I would like children and their caregivers to appreciate not only the connections we have to birds, trees, and other elements of nature, but the lessons we can learn from them. For example, in Birds Sing Their Words, the focus is appreciating birds, but also on communicating with others, using your voice as an individual, but also in unison. In Trees Stand Tall, the focus is appreciating trees, but also growth and being rooted in our families. Each book in the series has back matter for caregivers, providing ideas for deeper connection and exploration.
I believe this is part of a board book series, can you tell us how that came about?
Focusing on SEL concepts was essential, but I really wanted to incorporate lessons from nature. I pitched several ideas to the Free Spirit team and later realized that the framework we landed on was one I had developed many years earlier and had set aside. At that time I’d been thinking of an early chapter book that featured a young girl named Kamali who explored her back yard and neighborhood. The idea evolved into stories featuring a couple of cousins, 4-year-old Kamali and her 3-year-old cousin Josiah. They’re fascinated by the nature they see out the window, and are enticed outside to explore. I’m delighted to see the same characters now coming to life for our youngest readers.
What is your writing process and does it vary depending on the project?
My writing typically starts with a walk outside. The fresh air, nature, and movement get me into a creative zone. When I come back inside I’m ready to write. In addition, I often begin almost any type of writing with poetry. I enjoy reading it, and then trying to capture the essence of my subject with poems really helps me hone in on what’s essential. With nonfiction, I start by researching, which I also love.
Please share your favorite books from the last 5 years that inspired you.
I’ve read so many wonderful books in the last 5 years and find inspiration in so many of them. Some of my favorites:
A Home Like This by by Laura Purdie Salas and Miriam Nerlove
Rings of Heartwood: Poems on Growing by Molly Beth Griffin and Claudia McGehee
ong in the City by Daniel Bernstrom and Jenin Mohammed
Together We Ride by Valerie Bolling and Kaylani Juanita
Zoe and the Fawn by Catherine Jameson and Julie Flett
What is the best piece of advice you would give to other writers?
Listen to the wind and the water and the whispers around you. Listen to yourself. Write what you hear. Write what you want to hear. Write what you need to hear.
And a bonus question just for kicks! What was your favorite book when you were a child?
The first book I remember was Petunia by Roger Duvoisin. I liked it because it reminded me of the goose I’d see every day on my way to school. I was in kindergarten and my sister and I had to pass a house with a guardian goose. We were afraid of it because it would chase us and honk at us. That goose was a character, just like Petunia!
And a bonus question just for kicks! What was your favorite book when you were a child?
I didn’t really grow up around books when I was a child, so I can’t recall a favorite from my own childhood. Two books that bring back sweet memories from when my own children were young are MOUSE PAINT by Ellen Stool Walsh and BEAR SNORES ON by Karma Wilsony book choices for years. But it also made me determined to never judge what a kid is reading!
Bio
Mélina Mangal writes picture books, biographies, and short stories that focus on connections with nature and culture. She is the author of The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award, Jayden’s Impossible Garden, named One of the Best Children’s Books of the Year by Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature, and the sequel, Jayden’s Secret Ingredient. She is the author of the nature-based board book series Outside Our Window. Visit her online at www.melinamangal.com.
Links
Website: https://www.melinamangal.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melinamangal/
Instagram: @melinamangal
Books can be purchased at your favorite bookstore or through bookshop.org
https://bookshop.org/shop/MelinaMangal
