Lucia M. Gonzalez was born in Cuba, in a very small town with a very long name , Caimito del Guayabal. She came with her parents and sister to the United States at the age of 12, in 1970. Lucia has lived in Miami, Florida, California, Spain, and Venezuela.
An accomplished storyteller, puppeteer, and children's librarian, Lucia M. Gonzalez started her career in library services to children in 1987 after receiving the Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara and while pursuing her Masters in Library Science at the University of South Florida. Lucia is the author of three award-winning bilingual books, The Bossy Gallito (Scholastic, 1994), winner of the Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal and among New York Public Library's 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know, and Señor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America, an Americas Award Commended Title. Gonzalez was named the Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumni by the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science for 1998. Gonzalez's new book, The Storyteller's Candle (Children's Book Press, 2008) is a bilingual picture book illustrated by Lulu Delacre, winner of the 2008 Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal.
ALA Annual Conferences (1995, 1997, 1998; 2006, 2008) — Presentations included participation in panels discussing Latino children’s literature, bilingual books, bilingual programs and multicultural services in libraries, as well as storytelling performances and multiple author events. http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcoming/annual/index.cfm
REFORMA National Conference III (2008) — Panel presenter, The Bilingual Mind. Noche de Cuentos @ the Border, program coordinator and performer. http://www.reforma.org/
University of South Carolina’s Latino Children’s Literature Conference (2008 and
2009) http://www.ed.sc.edu/latinoconf/
Texas Library Association Convention (1995 and 2009) — Author presentation: Latina Heroines Among Us: Writing the Community-Based Biography http://www.txla.org/
Miami Book Fair International (1996, 2001, 2003, and 2008) Author presentations to schools http://www.miamibookfair.com/
Novello Festival of Reading (October 1998 and 2008)http://www.plcmc.org/novello/
International School of Warsaw (Poland, 1999)
ContArte Festival of the Word (Cuba, 2003) —Storytelling
National Council of Teachers of English 87th Convention (1997)http://www.ncte.org/annual
Shenandoah University (1997)http://www.su.edu/
Texas Woman’s University Children’s Literature Conferences (1997).
The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos (Children’s Book Press, Spring 2008)http://www.childrensbookpress.org/our-books/latino/storyteller%E2%80%99s-candle
“Picture Books in Spanish: A Best of the Best Backlist.” Criticas Magazine. May/June, 2002. http://www.criticasmagazine.com
“Cultural Integration at the Library”. Library Services to Youth of Hispanic Heritage: Proceedings from the Trejo Foster Foundation Fourth National Institute. McFarland & Company Inc., 1999.
Señor Cat’s Romance and other Favorite Stories from Latin America. (Scholastic, 1997)http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/index.jsp
The Bossy Gallito. (Scholastic, 1994) http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/index.jsp
“Juan Bobo and the Buñuelos”. From Sea to Shining Sea: An Anthology of American Folklore. (Scholastic, 1993)http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/index.jsp