User:JHS617/Angela Dominguez/Bibliography

Angela Dominguez
[Angela Dominguez] (1982–Current) is a successful children’s book illustrator and author known for her representation of the hispanic/latino culture and characters.

Early Life and Career
Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico city in 1982, but recalls very little to no memory of her time there as she moved to North Texas in 1984. Growing up in Texas, Dominguez described her childhood self as a “shy little girl” who was “caught between two worlds, two languages” (Mexican heritage and American culture). Her American English teachers told Dominguez it would be easier if she only learned English, rather than learn two languages at the same time. Speaking only English, Dominguez struggled to communicate with her only Spanish speaking family. She learned she was able to communicate through her writing and drawings, always loving to draw on everything as a child. She decided she wanted to learn Spanish so she took Spanish classes and is now bilingual today.

Dominguez attended Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) on a scholarship and graduated with a BFA in illustration. She then worked to achieve a MFA in illustration at the Academy of Art University which is where she began teaching children’s book illustrations two years later. In her time at SCAD, she wrote “Mary Had a Little Llama”, her own cultural take on the folk story “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, which was an assignment in her class that ultimately ended up receiving the Pura Belpré Honor in 2014. In a Tedtalk by Dominguez in 2017, she explains that while this book may seem like a foreign world to the main American children audience, it provides minority groups within the chicanx realm the opportunity to see a familiar latinx world depicted, something that is not often seen in American children's books. Writing “Mary Had a Little Llama” sparked Dominguez’s career in writing and illustrating children’s books. Over the years, Dominguez has continued to illustrate and write many successful children’s books such as the “Stella Diaz Series”, revolving around a character named Stella whose challenges Dominguez personally identified with in her childhood. She has worked with authors such as Marsha Diane Arnold and Sonia Sotomayor to represent latino/hispanic characters and their overall culture with the intent of diversity and inclusivity in American children's books. In her collaboration with Sonia Sotomayor on their book titled "Just Help", Dominguez's illustrations and Sotomayor's authoring received the Pura Belpre award in 2016, making Dominguez a two time Pura Belpre award winner. Along with being an illustrator and author, Dominguez is a professor at the Academy of Art University.

Notable Works and Collaborations

 * “Mary Had a Little Llama” (2013) written and illustrated by Angela Dominguez, Pura Belpré Honor (American Library Association 2014)
 * “Mango, Abuela, and Me” (2015) written by Meg Medina and illustrated by Angela Dominguez, Pura Belpré Honor (American Library Association 2016)
 * “Just Help” (2022) written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Angela Dominguez
 * Stella Díaz Children’s book series written and illustrated by Angela Dominguez:
 * “Stella Díaz has Something to Say” (2018)
 * “Stella Díaz Never Gives Up” (2020)
 * “Stella Díaz Big Dreams” (2021)
 * “Stella Díaz To The Rescue” (2022)
 * “Stella Díaz Leaps to the Future” (2023)