Published Work
Available wherever books are sold
-
- Title: Zonia’s Rain Forest
- Publisher: Candlewick Press
- Release Date: March 30, 2021
- Author: Juana Martinez-Neal
- Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal
- Age Level: 4-8, 40 pages
- ISBN: 978-1-5362-0845-0
A heartfelt, visually stunning picture book from the Caldecott Honor and Sibert Medal Winner illuminates a young girl’s day of play and adventure in the lush rain forest of Peru.
Zonia’s home is the Amazon rain forest, where it is always green and full of life. Every morning, the rain forest calls to Zonia, and every morning she answers. She visits the sloth family, greets the giant anteater, and runs with the speedy jaguar. But one morning, the rain forest calls to her in a troubled voice. How will Zonia answer?
Acclaimed author-illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal explores the wonders of the rain forest with Zonia, an Asháninka girl, in her joyful outdoor adventures. The engaging text emphasizes Zonia’s empowering bond with her home, while the illustrations—created on paper made from banana tree bark—burst with luxuriant greens and delicate details. Illuminating back matter includes a translation of the story in Asháninka, information on the Asháninka community, as well as resources on the Amazon rain forest and its wildlife.
★ 2021 Society of Illustrators Original Art Selection
★ 2021 NYPL Mejores libros para pequeños/Best Books for Kids in Spanish
★ 2021 Foreword Indie Finalist for Picture Books
★ 2022 ALA Top 10 Sustainability-themed Children’s Books
★ 2022 Américas Award – Commended Title
★ 2022 Bank Street College – The Best Children’s Books of the Year
★ 2023 M. Jerry Weiss Book Award Finalist for Picture Books
- 100 Scope Notes – Book Cover Reveal: Zonia’s Rain Forest by Juana
- KidLit These Days – Most Anticipated Books of 2021
- Hip Latina: 10 of the Best Latinx Children’s Books Coming Out this Year
- 100 Scope Notes – Books from Caldecott Winners
- Parents Latina Magazine: 7 Fund and Easy Ways to Teach Kids Indigenous Latino History
- 100 Scope Notes – Books from Sibert Winners
- Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast – Juana Martinez-Neal on Zonia’s Rain Forest
- New York Times – Nature and Nurture: 8 Picture Books for Earth Day
- 100 Scope Notes – 2021 Books from Pura Belpré Winners
- Green Child Magazine – Zonia’s Rain Forest: An Enchanting Book for Earth Day
- Mother Magazine – All About Juana Martinez-Neal’s Powerful New Book Zonia’s Rain Forest
- Today – 11 Books to Celebrate Earth Day
- Nerdy Book Club – Of Reading, Books and Zonia
- Readers Digest – The 20 Best Books by Latinx Authors You’ll Want to Read Right Now
- SLJ – Predictions! NYT Best Illustrated Children’s Books 2021
- Gothamist – NYPL’s Best Books of 2021 Just Dropped
- Bookelicious – Teacher Talk Tuesdays: Books for Multilingual Learners
- Green Matters – 10 Earth Day Read Aloud That Will Entertain (And Inform) Your Kids!
- Bank Street College of Education – The Best Children’s Books of the Year 2022 Edition
- 2022 Americas Award – Commended Title
- BookRiot KidLit These Days – Our Most Anticipated Books of 2021
- Here Wee Read Podcast – Zonia’s Rain Forest: A Conversation with Peruvian Author-Illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal
- The Children’s Book Review – Juana Martinez-Neal Discusses “Zonia’s Rain Forest”
- The Children’s Book Review – Special Spanish Edition: Luisa con Juana Martinez-Neal sobre “La selva de Zonia”
- Mr. Schu – Book Joy Live with Joyce Wan and Juana Martinez-Neal
- L.A. Times Book Festival 2021 – L.A. Times en Español Presents a Bilingual Children’s Picture Book Panel
- L.A. Times Books Festival 2021 – Kids Stage Presents Juana Martinez-Neal Reading from “Zonia’s Rain Forest” and “La selva de Zonia”
★ (…) Zonia is vibrant and her curiosity is infectious. The book includes back matter that will appeal to older readers and is well suited for classroom use on the Asháninka people, facts about and threats to the Amazon rainforest, as well as information about the animals Zonia encounters. This beautiful look at a young girl’s life and her determination to save her home is a perfect read for young environmentalists. —Starred review
★ A young girl’s pledge to protect the Amazon. (…) An Asháninka translation of the story is also included and serves as another reminder that the Asháninka are at the heart—or, more accurately, are the heart—of this beautiful tale, and it behooves us all to listen them in their concern for the Amazon. (…) Ultimately, this is a conversation starter (…) capable of bridging more complex discussions on racial and environmental activism, as well as the study of rain forest biomes. Children don’t need statistics to understand that destroying animals’ and people’s forest homes is harmful, but arming them with facts to gird their compassion will ensure they are a force to be reckoned with in fights to come. —Starred review
(…) un- flinching look at the changing Peruvian Amazon (…) striking look at the way environmental destruction disenfranchises Indigenous communities.
A girl who lives in the rain forest begins each day by greeting her animal friends in this exuberant picture book crowned with an environmental message. (…) generous and valuable back matter (…) Readers too young to appreciate the book as a call to environmental action will find sport in spotting the blue morpho butterfly that Martinez-Neal has introduced in each spread, nearly every illustration a tropical enchantment.
This book isn’t just about the Peruvian Amazon, it literally is the Peruvian Amazon: Its illustrations were created on paper made from banana bark by women living in the village of Chazuta (…) But what truly makes it stand out is its message of self-determination: These Indigenous people, Martinez-Neal has written, are “not saved but take charge.”
Zonia’s Rain Forest Press Kit with more about the making of the book
- Base de Datos de Pueblos Indígenas u Originarios (BDPI) del Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Ashaninka – Spanish
- Central Asháninka del Río Ene (CARE) – Spanish and English
- International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) – English and Spanish
- Goldman Environmental Foundation: Ruth Buendía
- The Atlantic: The Woman Who Breaks Mega-Dams
- New York Times: Dam project Threatens a way of life in Peru
- Asociación Regional de Pueblos Indígenas de la Selva Central (ARPI-SC) – Spanish
- Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) – Spanish
- Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) – Spanish
- Organización Regional de los Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente (ORPIO) – Spanish and English
- Navegador Indígena – Spanish and English
Asháninka Satipo-Junin
Antamishite Zonia
by Juana Martinez-Neal
translated into Asháninka from the Spanish by Deniz Contreras Alva
Zonia osaiki antamishiki omatsiriatira aisati otimapaira saikantsipero, otsipajeitari oshaninkape onintajeitiri.
Aparope kitaiteriki, antamishi okajemapintiro Zonia.
Aparope kitaiteriki, Zonia akapintiro.
Antamishiteki Zonia, omatsiriatira aisati otimapaira saikantsipero, okibantajeitapintiri aapatianepe peesatiterini aisati obakeranenta aapatiayetajari.
—¡Kitaiteri!— obetsatantapinta aparoni, apiteni, mabani, otsi apiipinintiro.
Ari meka okenkitsatakajeitiri otsipanampijeitari kenkitsareantipe arejeitapachari obakeranenta.
—¡Pimpokabejeite! Ari nosabikiri notsipanampijeitami— okantajeitiri opampoyantanentaro Zonia.
Ari obetsatari aapatiane ñatsaperotinkari.
—Abiroperotake naapatiabintsare— okantatsatiri Zonia.
Ariorika intakotyaro, aapatiane shintsikiiri ikantero tsamebe aniibeetaiteri tomirishiki.
—Okajemake Zonia —¡Arojei añaaperojeita!— irotake okemiri asankaneki irori.
Zonia oñake anaatajeitatsiri aabakainkari porereakinibe.
—¿Jaoka okantari nija meeka?— osampijeitakeri oshirontashirea.
Impoiji obeshireakojeitaro inape otsipajeitarira entsitepe.
—Nokobaitake iyootitetenari nojaririjaniki obakera timapatsiri. Nintaasanotari.
Orame Zonia onebenetaro oñatsapintya manaantsipe.
—Koni, iko, tson, soti…— oñanati ñakarontsipe.
Aparopeni aapatianepe Zonia yamitakojeitiro amenero pashininenka kipatsika.
Aisati Zonia oyoperoti janika okibaanteri omajerekiaterika tekatsirika oyerone.
Ari meka aniitanajira ojataje obankoki, Zonia oñaake kobenkatimotakarori kari oñapininte. Otsarobakera, oshiyaitanaka irosati aretantaja obankoki.
—Okempejitapajarora onampi Zonia kajemapake ashitareakero akope —¡Inaa, pamene! ¡Antamishi okobati amitakotantsi!
Ari okantiro oniro Zonia— Oñanatatimi.
—Jaaje ari nakakero— akake Zonia —aitake nokantapintari nakaapintiro.
—Ari akantajeityari maroni akaapintero.
Asháninka
Antamishite Zonia
by Juana Martinez-Neal
translated into Asháninka from the Spanish by Arlynder Sett Gaspar Paulino
Zonia osaiki okaratiri maroni añatsiri antamishiki, okantara kenashijenka osheki añantarori.
Kitaiterikepe, antamimashi okajemapintiro Zonia. Kitaiterikepe, Zonia akapintiro.
Antamishiteki Zonia okantara kenashijenka osheki saikantarori, okiibántiri peesatiri otsipabintsare aisati obakerari apatyane.
—¡Kitaiteri!— obetsatantapinta aparo, apite, mabaa, otsi apipinitiro.
Ora meka osaikashitiri okinkitsatakayiri obakeraripe aisati kenketsariantipe otsipanampijetari.
—¡Pimpokabejeite! Nosabiki notsipanampijeitami— Zonia okantiri opamposhirianentiri.
Ora obetsatari otsipabintsare ñatsaperotinkari.
—Abirotake nokashiyapintari— Zonia okanttatsatiri.
Aririka okantake, otsipabintsare shintsikiiri ikantero tsamebe aniibetakite tomirishiki.
—¡Arojeipero!— okanti Zonia, irotake okeemiri asankaneki.
Zonia oñake yamatajeiti aparoni tsipatachari ikimoshiretake.
—¿Jaokari okantari nija meeka?— osampijeitakeri oshirontashiriaka.
Ora obeshiriakajeitaro inapee otsipajeitarira entsitepe.
—Nokobaitake iyotitenari obakerari nojaririjaniki. Nonintasanotiri.
Ora Zonia onebetaro oñatsataro otsitibetya.
—Koni, iko, tson, soti…— oñanati ñakarontsipe.
Aparopeni otsipabintsare Zonia yamitakotiro yamenajeitiro kipatsi ora nashyetachari kinkitsashiriantsi. Meka Zonia oyoperoti janika okibaánteri okobi osaike omajerete aisati otekatsite.
Iro meka otsonkakearika okibantiri maaroni otsipabintsare, Zonia betsikaja opiyaje obankoki. Osheki okantimoitajaro oñapajero oniro aisati ojaririjaniki.
Oejatajero awotsiki jatatsiri obankoki, Zonia oñaake kari oñapinte perani. Otsarobashireanake, oshiyaitanaja irosati obankoki.
—¡Inaa, pamene!— okaimapake Zonia ashitariro akope—. ¡Antamimashi okoy amitakotantsi!
—Oñanatatimi— okanti oniro Zonia.
—Iroñaka ari nakakero— akakero Zonia —nokemitapintiro nakiro.
—Marojeini otimatye akajeintero.
Deniz Contreras Alva
Translator and interpreter
Arlynder Sett Gaspar Paulino
Translator and interpreter recognized by Peru’s Ministry of Culture
Translation vetted by:
Edgar Shamayre Bantico
Abelina Ampinti Shiñungari
Abelardo Rodríguez Pishirovanti
Blue morpho butterfly
Morpho peleides
Amazon river dolphin
Inia geoffrensis
Hoffman's two-toed sloth
Choloepus hoffmanni
Red-tailed boa constrictor
Boa constrictor
Andean cock-of-the-rock
Rupicola peruviana
Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
South American Coati
Nasua nasua
Spectacled caiman
Caiman crocodilus
Jaguar
Panthera onca
Arrau turtle
Podocnemis expansa
Giant Amazon water lily
Victoria amazonica