“The amazing thing about mixed media is that nobody can say ‘That’s wrong’,” author-illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal recently told a packed house of Lower School students in Anne’s Black Box. In her own work, she’s given herself permission to experiment with materials — and she’s found that when she incorporates nontraditional materials into her books for young readers, it unlocks her own creativity. For example, her illustrations in Mara Rockliff’s biography of clothier Lane Bryant, A Perfect Fit, came alive when she incorporated pieces of fabric into the art.  

In her visit to Charlotte Latin School, funded by the school library and by Parents’ Council, Martinez-Neal spoke to Lower School students in three separate sessions (divided by grade level). She told her personal story: she grew up in Lima, Peru, in a house filled with art (her father and grandfather were both painters). “I loved illustration,” she said. “I just didn’t know it was called illustration.” Although she studied painting in art school, she switched from paint to colored pencils when she had children so nobody in her family would eat anything toxic. After living for some time in Los Angeles, CA, she now resides in rural Connecticut. 

“I hope students learn a little bit more about Peru,” she said in a conversation in Knight-Dickson Library after she finished her presentation. “I hope they get exposed to the career of being an author-illustrator. I hope they understand a little bit about how different people approach art. I also hope some of them will feel seen.”

Martinez-Neal has worked on eighteen books, by her count, but the one for which she won the prestigious Caldecott Honor was her 2019 book Alma and How She Got Her Name, the story of a young girl who initially believes her Spanish name is “too long” but learns how each part of it reflects a part of her family history. “I love all my books, but I love Alma especially,” she told the Latin students, “because all of Alma’s relatives are my relatives.”

She is so in demand as an illustrator that she has signed contracts with publishers that will keep her busy for the next three to five years. “The connection has to be immediate when I read the manuscript,” she said. “I have to see images.” Nevertheless, she’s trying to carve out more time in her schedule so she can also work on books that she writes herself, such as Alma.

In her presentation, she also shared a brief history of Peruvian agriculture — the subject of her 2025 book Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka Con la Papa (written by Sara Andrea Fajardo). Peru is the birthplace of the potato, she explained, and home to 5,500 different varieties, as tabulated by the Centro Internacional de la Papa (International Potato Center) in Lima.

As a result, when she fielded questions from Lower School students, there was a repeated motif of spud-related queries such as “What’s the biggest potato you’ve ever seen?” But Latin’s students also wanted to know details about the characters in Alma (the bird is there to help Alma when she’s not sure), where most of her family lives today (Los Angeles), and what Martinez-Neal’s after-school activities were when she was growing up (reading and making art).

And one question about her childhood visibly surprised and moved her: “Who did you have your strongest bond with?” Blinking away tears, she shared some memories of her parents, but after the presentation, she was still thinking about that moment. “I’ve never been asked that before,” she said. “And it was such a thoughtful and deep question. That says a lot about the student.”