Social Media Manager Cat Galeano joined Alyssa Reynoso-Morris on Instagram Live to celebrate the Book Birthday of Gloriana, Presente: A First Day of School Story! Find more about Alyssa at her website and follow her on Instagram.

Watch the conversation or read the full transcript below. (Please note: closed captions are being added to the video below. When they are finished, you can see them by hovering over the bottom of the video and choosing the “CC” icon.)

Full Transcript:

Cat:
A big hello to our Highlights Foundation family. We are so happy to have you here with us this steamy afternoon. At least in the Northeast. For those that may not know me, I am Cat Galeano, my pronouns are she/her; I am the social media manager here at the Highlights Foundation, also known as the person that reposts your post or signs everything off with a green and blue heart. That’s me. I’m the human behind the screen.

I’m joining you from Westchester, NY on the traditional lands of the Seewanoy people. And apart from all the fun things I get to do at the Highlights Foundation, one of my greatest joys is celebrating the book birthdays of the community members, faculty and friends that make up the Highlights Foundation family. Because all of your wins, are our wins.

So today I have the honor of celebrating my beautiful human of a friend, Alyssa Reynoso Morris, whose picture book Gloriana, Presente: a First Day of School Story is out in the world today.

Alyssa:
Thank you. Thank you so much.

Cat:
It is illustrated by Doris M. Rodríguez-Graber, we can’t forget that bit. And we are so excited to have you here with us today. But before we dive into our questions, I want to remind our viewers that joining in on any Highlights Foundation sessions, to do so with no hate, no harm and no harassment of any kind.

Now, let’s get started. So my first question for you is how are you feeling? Today is publishing day, the book is out in the world. So how are you feeling? What’s going on in your heart and your head today?

Alyssa:
You know, so book birthdays are always so funny because they fall on like Tuesdays and Thursdays. And it’s like: it, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I feel like in my normal life don’t get that much love. It’s so exciting because this book, a lot of people don’t know this: this book was actually the first book that I wrote when I realized “hey, maybe I can be an author.” So even though it’s my third book and my third time doing this whole book birthday thing, it, it was a long time coming. This book has been in the process in my heart and in my head for like over a decade. So, like to finally be holding it and for people to finally be getting their copies, it feels really like weird, but like, good.

Cat:
It’s an incredible thing to share because you know so often you’re like oh, it’s my third book. But like the fact that this was like your OG baby that you were like, this idea just percolating in your head for years and years and years and, and it’s kind of an incredible lesson to all writers that, like even though the, the story you’ve been working on for eons isn’t the first, second, or third book. It’s still OK, and it will come out when the time is ready and the time is now and we’re celebrating it now and I got to read it–whispers to all of you–a couple of months back, but I also got an advanced copy right before I talked to Alyssa and let me tell you… she can tell you herself. I had tears in my eyes when I read it the first time. It is something so incredibly special and I can’t wait for everybody else to get get their hands on it.

Alyssa:
Yeah. See my advice is..definitely a must for this one. I’ve been like, I warn people ahead of time and I’m just like: it might make you cry. But like not like, you know, in a bad way. But just like have some Kleenex on the side if you don’t.

Cat:
Exactly. It just like hits you in the feels because we were all that kid in school or it doesn’t even have to be school. It could be whatever life moment that you have that you’re sort of new, right? Experiencing something new and it just hits you. It’s so beautifully told. And yeah, better for all to have ordered your copy. Or run out and get it today.

Alyssa:
Or check it out from the library.

Cat:
Or check it out from the library and request it from your library if they don’t have it. So my second question is for you: can we talk a little bit about the idea off this book? I mean, we heard now that like, it’s been sitting with you for quite a bit. But how did this idea come to you and what was your process to get it on the page?

Alyssa:
So. I love that question because so much of this story is about finding your voice. It’s a first day of school story. It’s about overcoming your fears and finding your voice, and in writing the story, I found my literary voice.

I have been writing forever, right? As most of us who aspire to be authors, we write forever, and it take–it’s a process, you have to learn the structure and there’s all this other stuff that we need to learn. And then you have to get an agent and if it all of those things add up to years of work and time and energy.

And before I wrote this book, I wrote a lot of books, like the white gaze… because that’s more the books that I read. So this was the first time where I wrote it in MY voice. And it was really like the process of writing Gloriana, Presente…I feel like a lot like Gloriana. Because it’s her process of finding her voice and it’s her process of like overcoming her fears. And it was my process of finding my literary voice and the process of overcoming my fears, too. Of like putting myself out there as an author.

So like our journeys parallel. This story has been sitting with me for like, ever. And it really helped me figure out like, OK, this is something I think I can do. And then I read it to my daughter and it’s her favorite of all, of all the books that I’ve written and she always says all the time, she’s like “I’m Gloriana. I’m Gloriana” because she’s she’s actually quite shy. She’s very like out there once she’s once, she gets comfortable with you.

But, it’s just really sweet. Every time I read it to a kid that they’re like, “Oh my gosh, that’s like me.” You know, so it, I feel like, OK, I did something right here because in earlier drafts, I would like read it to the kiddos and they would resonate with it. So I’m like, alright, we all, this is this, is a thing. You know like. You’re scared; your first day of school, I was scared of putting myself out there as an author. And I, I think it shows.

Cat:
I, I am just full of so much joy because I, all of that, what you just shared? I feel it like, resonating through the pages and then, of course, with the brilliant artwork. It just really comes alive. I am so moved by this book and it’s one of those things where like, this is your third book, so you’re like, how can I be better? How can I make something you know, stand out from the success of your other books? But this one, like your daughter said, it might be my favorite too.

I mean like, Plantanos was really hard and then Bronx came along and then I’m like, OK. And then I read this one, which I had the honor to read it WITH you, so I was just like….

Alyssa:
So they’re all really different.

Cat:
Something very special with this story. Which kind of leads into my third question. Which is: the idea of finding your voice and breaking through shyness in a new environment is truly a universal feeling. Why did you decide to tell this story through the lens of a grandchild and grandmother and sort of their exact scenario?

Alyssa:
Yeah, I can’t really take credit for it like from, like an imagination standpoint, I wish I was that imaginative. But it’s really, that’s how I grew up. I my grandmother was a huge extrovert and wherever she was, people were laughing and crying. She was always the center of attention. And it wasn’t like something she did intentionally like, it’s not something that she went out of her way to do but people gravitated toward her because she was just…she had so much empathy and so much wisdom, and she always had a story for everything. I don’t know how this woman always had a story for any situation that anyone was was going through. And so that’s whenever I was scared of doing something, she would always have stories for me. I’m like, oh, like I had this, you know exam. And I’m so nervous. And she’s like: can I tell you about, the time that I had to take my first exam. But I and this and this, and I’m like, OK. So she she would. always be there with her stories to comfort me so. It made sense to incorporate that into, into the story.

Cat:
I also find it like super because of the message is so universal and like well, yes, this is a picture book for young children like. I feel like I could give this to anyone in my real life that’s an adult, going through a very new experience because the wisdom of it is so universal and that message touches all of us, no matter in what point and what part of your life. Or what you’re navigating. So I, I felt like that extra layer truly even resonated with me more because like, of course it’s a picture book. Of course, it’s for the young ones, but that message, it’s just so universal that like this book could be gift for anyone in your family. Anyone in your universe.

Alyssa:
I’m a believer that picture books are for everyone. Like, I say this all the time, but like, if our political leaders, if people in power, it’s like if the CEO’s of the world were still reading picture books, our world would look so different. It would look so much better because the messages and the themes of these books are so powerful. And I think that’s why kids are as amazing as they are. You know, like they’re still holding on to that like love and that innocence. And then it’s further nurtured by the stories that they read. Hopefully, right? And they’re not mean adults yet. So.

Cat:
Exactly. So I’m going to jump into our next question, which is: can you talk about your journey and how the Highlights Foundation has played a little bit a part in it?

Alyssa:
Yes. So I’m so lucky that I was invited to join the retreat, the in-community retreat for the like Latinx in-community retreat. I said that so discombobulated, but, which is where I got to meet you. And I’m so grateful to Alex and for like bringing me on board and stringing me, you know, to come along. Because it really was such an amazing experience to be in-person, in-communitity with other amazing writers.

My writing journey has mostly been online; like I have a lot of writing and author friends, but everything that we’ve done has been online and that was the first time that I, like, was doing stuff in person. It was like, oh man, this is so magical. So it was, it was amazing, super grateful for that. And just like the synergy that energy, the, the love, the support was really felt and I really think the Highlights Foundation, you guys have cracked the code and really created a beautiful space for everyone to be able to go and enjoy and write. And meet amazing people, so…

Cat:
Ah, that makes me feel so giddy and not just because I work for Highlights, but because I had the good fortune of being at that retreat. And I second everything Alyssa said. Our in-communities are sort of built to share time and space with people who identify like you and who you know, write like you do, because our families and friends love us, but they don’t always get what we’re doing, so it’s good to to be in community with others and so I can’t wait to see you in the fall for the next one. And now I have my final question is: what do you hope kids will take away from your book?

Alyssa:
Yeah. So for this one, I really hope that they know that they are enough. And that they are brave and strong and that they are capable of overcoming their fears. You know in the book, it’s a first day of school book. And I generally think any kiddo who’s like, nervous about going to school will be able to resonate with it. But I also want it to be a love letter to immigrant and English language learners. When I, this is based on my experience. The, the teacher in the book–spoiler alert: the teacher in the book was actually my 4th grade teacher, Mr. Dissolvo, and I found him on social media recently and reached out and I was like “hey, I don’t know if you remember me from many, many years ago, but I would love to send you a copy of my book.” And he immediately was like, “of course I remember you. Here’s my address.”

You know, Mr. Dissolvo was one of the first teachers to really believe in me and my potential even though the system was, like failing, me. Because they didn’t have the resources to teach me as an English language learner. So I want kids to know that they’re enough and that they can overcome their fears. And I also hope that educators reading this book realize how much power they have to really change a kid’s life like the way Mr. Dissolvo changed my life.

Cat:
Oh man, I mean, that’s it. That’s it. It kind of hits on all the parts, you know? Of, like, of course, what we mentioned before with the universal aspect of, of being in a new environment, but also the immigrant story of, of Abuela and like her wisdom, really enlightening Gloriana and you know the educator, the teacher themself who really empowered her when she, she was already second-guessing her and, and if she didn’t have that teacher, she would have just probably continued down that path of not speaking up.

Alyssa:
Absolutely.

Cat:
And it really hits–like the beautiful job you did was how you hit those three points. And just like emerge seamlessly into this beautiful story, and again a shout out to the illustrator who did a phenomenal job, truly lifting those words and making it extra extra vibrant.

Alyssa:
Yeah, shout out to Doris. Doris is amazing and shout out to Jessica Anderson, my editor. Who really, like, helped me shape the story into what it is. Because it was, I thought it was good before, you know, but then she got her hands on it and I was like, “Oh, my God. Yeah. This is what I was trying to say the whole time.” So, shout out to them, shout out to the Highlights Foundation for all of your support and for everyone tuning in. I appreciate you and I hope you enjoy the story, get it, you know, buy it if you can. If you can’t, hopefully borrow it from the library, libraries are amazing and they need our support.

Cat:
Libraries are are my safe place. It was where–I grew up in a very affluent community. So like everyone was going on vacation, but my vacation was the library. So I got to take all the books, to travel the world with that. So, libraries are a safe place. Good teachers change lives. I saw Vanessa just wrote back “I second that wholeheartedly.” And then our families; there that is where our wisdom comes from. Look, look, look where you are now, Alyssa, look at this beautiful story. Do you have anything else you’d like to add before. And if anyone wants of course, has a question, please type in the chat while Alyssa wraps up her knowledge and her wisdom with us.

Alyssa:
No, I think the only thing I can think of saying is I need to practice reading this one before I start doing school visits again because I need to like, figure out a way to read it without sobbing. Every time I read it to my daughter, I would start crying; she’s looking at me like, are you OK? She’s kind of like immune to me now, in a way. She’s like mommy’s always crying, I don’t know why. But a school of kids, you know, they’re just like, oh, because they’re just so empathetic. So wish me luck folks. I’m gonna need all the, all the luck in the world to be able to read it.

Cat:
I read it in my head and I cried. I, you’re definitely gonna need a little extra extra time when you’re reading it out loud. Cause it’s definitely gonna sit right here. And if anyone has a question, please feel free to type it in. I do see a lot of love.

Alyssa:
Yes.

Cat:
So that is so amazing. And of course, could congratulations on your new book, baby, that’s out in the world today. For those that may want to purchase a copy, you canalways purchase at our virtual bookshop, powered by bookshop.org. Alyssa will also be teaching with us in the month of August. Which is called Getting the Gig: A Two Night Mini on Speaking Opportunities for Storytellers, August 6th and 8th at 7:00 PM Eastern. All that information is on our website at highlightsfoundation.org. So please, please, please hop over to our website if you want to learn more from Alyssa.

I had the honor of having a sneak peek of it. And she blew my mind as someone that works in marketing. So let me just tell you that much people: you better hop on that Mini it was, it will be incredible.

Alyssa:
It’s gonna be inspired. Not to blow my own horn, but it’s going to be inspired. I’m gonna give you all the T, guys. I am not going to hold back at all.

Cat:
Listen, right? She collectively had all our jaws just dropping because she was like hitting on the point that I was like: I would have never, so definitely so worth it. Get on that, get on our website, sign up for that class. Even if you can’t make it live we will send the recordings to you. So please, please, please, hop on that. But yes, thank you, friend for joining us today. Thank you everyone for tuning in.

Alyssa:
Yes. Thank you for all the love in the chat.

Cat:
All that love, all that little fire. I love it all. The little heart emoji. Love it all. I love it all. Happy birthday to Gloriana, Presente!

We can’t wait to see you out in the wild, Alyssa, and thank you everyone else, please stay cool and have a great rest of your week, everyone. Bye.

Alyssa:
Adios! Bye!