Listen, Wonder, Ask is a poignant children's picture book about how a single question — "What is your coming-here story?" — can help bring people together and celebrate different perspectives and experiences.
In this Q&A, creators Elly Berke and Luciana Navarro Powell talk about the book, how they are sharing it, and ways that educators English language learners (ELLs) and immigrant students can use the book in their classrooms.
What inspired this story?
My inspiration came from working at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. We told the stories of immigrant families and we shared a video in which people recalled their "Welcoming Stories." In 2018, I began to teach ESL at a Haitian Creole dual-language school in Boston. The district encouraged us to find books that gave our students windows and mirrors, but it was difficult to find many books with Haitian characters. I drew on specific memories to write this book: Russian immigrants moving to my street in Acton, MA in the 1990’s, a Somali student teaching me about sambusas, Haitian Creole teachers making their own instructional materials, for example, as well as people craving connection during the crazed spring of 2020.
Tell us more about the idea of a "coming-here story."
Originally, the characters in the book said: "tell me where you come from." The editors at Tilbury House encouraged me to find language that was more welcoming and inclusive, citing that "Where are you from?" can be a divisive question. I thought about the work of the organization that created “Welcoming Stories” and wanted to put my own spin on it! I like playing with language and the idea of creating a new descriptive word: "coming-here." Everyone has stories and storytelling is so essentially human. I wanted it to reflect that as well.
What are some of the memorable conversations the book has inspired?
I read the book to a second grade class that had one Haitian American student. At the end of the book she exclaimed: “Finally I’m in a book!” It was really moving for Luciana and myself. I’ve had people approach me at bookstores after storytime and share their own coming-here story. I’ve been told many times thank you for sharing these stories and for giving kids a new way to connect with each other. At a bookstore in Worcester, the kids all created their own mini version of Listen, Wonder, Ask after the storytime. I was so surprised and delighted!
How have kids responded to the story?
Kids have seemed to engage with and connect to the story quickly and easily. They usually connect with someone in the story or the experience of being new to a place. Sometimes students will share a story of moving or being new to a school, even if they are not immigrants. They will share the languages they speak and reflect on their own heritage. The rhythm and repetition in the book lend themselves to predicting or echoing words aloud. I’ve loved using Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) to discuss the illustrations. Students have so much to say about the pictures before even hearing the story. Luciana’s images are their own text to unpack. My students have been loyal supporters of the book. They always tell me when they take it out of the school library and this feels so good! It is for them.
What are some of the ways you've been able to share the book?
I’ve shared the book through school visits and whole school assemblies, classroom visits, library storytimes, book shop storytimes, PTA fundraisers, Zoom class visits and one time at a Zoom memorial event for the woman who was the basis for the character of Yan. I’ve sold the book at my college reunion (Connecticut College) and at conferences. I’ve taken the book around the world and read it to kids in Italy, Germany and soon Uruguay. I plan to present my book at a children’s summer camp and daycare this summer. Since I am also an actor, I have tried to share the book with well-known artists from my networks of film and theater. I’ve sent it to pop-star Sarah Bareilles and I left a signed copy on set for Sosie Bacon (Kevin Bacon’s daughter) during a film we were shooting!
Why is it important for ELLs and immigrant students to see themselves and their experiences in books?
It is important for ELLs and immigrant students to see themselves in books so that they develop an innate sense of worth and value in the community and in the society. Connecting to books can help maintain interest in reading and could help ELLs and immigrant students see themselves as writers and storytellers. So there is a mental health and social development component as well as an academic benefit.
How can educators who are new to working with ELLs celebrate students' languages and cultures?
It’s important to be brave and to ask questions. I’ve seen educators who are too nervous to unpack a student’s identity so they don’t ask about it. Instead, ask students about where they were born, what languages are spoken in their homes, where their families were born and any other traditions that make them who they are. I’ve found that this can lead to new learning opportunities for students and teachers. For example, I recently found out that one of my students who was born in India had actually spent most of her childhood in Taiwan because of her parents’ jobs. When I planned an activity to teach students about Taiwan, I was surprised and delighted to learn that she could help lead the lesson.
Luciana, what is your "coming-here story"?
I met my now husband in Brazil in 2000, and after over a year of us traveling back and forth between Brazil and the US, I moved to Los Angeles to be with him in March 2002.
Luciana, can you tell us about the artwork in the book?
The start of the process for each book I illustrate is very similar – always pencil on paper. Since there are a relatively large number of characters in this book, and they are very specific, I did detailed character studies for each one. Research is always a part of the process I enjoy a lot, and this book required a lot of it – I wanted to do right by all the places and cultures portrayed in the story. Pencils are where all the real thinking about the story happens, and we had a few rounds of approvals until the whole team was on board. The final art stage goes very smoothly after that, and I had a lot of fun playing with different elements to build the memory ribbons and the language, trying to make them as evocative as Elly’s poetic text. At the deli, for example, when Symona steps in to get coffee and hears “words like jewels that bounced and danced through the isles” – I used actual costume jewels mixed with sparkly silver resin, then scanned it and incorporated it into the illustration. I rendered all the languages using volume and real objects – actual glass shards, paper quilling, cut paper – to try to portray language as living entities.
Where can people order the book?
I would love to direct people to order from the Portland, Maine non-profit "I'm Your Neighbor Books." When you order through them, you support an organization that provides collections of diverse literature to children and families new to the U.S.
Related Resources
About the Authors
Elly Berke has always loved children's literature and the power of asking good questions. Her earliest influence was Barbara Cooney whom she met in 1991 at a book signing in Damariscotta, Maine. The characters in this story are inspired by people she has met on her professional journey through public education: leading programs at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, teaching ESL in bilingual schools, and studying Arts in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Outside of writing and teaching, she is a professional actor involved in many projects around her local Somerville, MA and virtually through her home voice over studio.
Luciana Navarro Powell has created art since childhood and became a full-time illustrator in 2001. She moved from watercolor and acrylic paints to the digital brush―loving the freedom and the possibilities of experimentation with textures―and then to mixed media, incorporating photographs and scanned objects with traditional techniques in a digital melting pot. The colors, vibrancy, and warmth of her native Brazil infuse her work with a sunny optimism, humor, and warm human-animal-landscape interactions. As an immigrant, she makes sure that kids can see themselves in her art.
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