Texas Book Festival and El Paso Community Foundation are proud to host Andrea Beatriz Arango, Rhode Montijo, and Marcelo Verdad for a free family event at the La Nube STEAM Discovery Center Blue Sky Lab in El Paso, TX on Saturday, February 15, 2025 from 9–11 AM.
Families can expect a series of back-to-back sessions led by children’s author/illustrators Marcelo Verdad (The Dream Catcher), Andrea Beatriz Arango (It’s All Or Nothing, Vale), and Rhode Montijo (Skeletown: Más. ¡Menos!). The authors, some of whom are also illustrators, will lead interactive sessions for kids and their caretakers, including a hands-on activity making dream catchers, a storytelling workshop, and an illustration demonstration. Texas Book Festival will give away a limited number of copies of each author’s book following the program, and the authors will sign at the end of the event.
The event is free and open to the public, with no RSVP required.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Marcelo Verdad is the author/illustrator of The Worst Teddy Ever and El peor Teddy del mundo, which received a Blue Ribbon from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, was a 2022 Indigo Best Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Barnes and Noble Book Awards. He is also the author and illustrator of The Dream Catcher, and its Spanish edition, El atrapasueños. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he dedicates his time to his young students at an art academy, and to his tiny furry life companion, Prana.
Andrea Beatriz Arango is the author of Newbery Honor Book Iveliz Explains It All and the Pura Belpré Honor Book Something Like Home. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she first became a teacher. She then spent a decade in the United States working in public schools and nonprofits. When she’s not busy writing about middle schoolers and their families, you can find her hoping to spot manatees at the beach. Andrea lives in Puerto Rico with her family and two dogs.Rhode Montijo is the creator of Sí. ¡No! and Más. ¡Menos!, the first two books in his series set in Skeletown, a fun, imaginative world inspired by Día de los Muertos. He is also the author and illustrator of the Gumazing Gum Girl! chapter book series, as well as the picture books Cloud Boy and The Halloween Kid. Rhode received a BFA in illustration from California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts) and lives near Los Angeles.
Rhode Montijo is the creator of Sí. ¡No! and Más. ¡Menos!, the first two books in his series set in Skeletown, a fun, imaginative world inspired by Día de los Muertos. He is also the author and illustrator of the Gumazing Gum Girl! chapter book series, as well as the picture books Cloud Boy and The Halloween Kid. Rhode received a BFA in illustration from California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts) and lives near Los Angeles.