The Resilience of BIONIC BEASTS: Q&A with Author Jolene Gutierrez

Today I’m interviewing author, Jolene Gutierrez, about her experiences working as a teacher and librarian for diverse learners. Jolene and I will be serving on an author/educator panel along with Beth Anderson for the annual Reading in the City Conference on April 15, 2023, in Denver, CO. The topic is on “Using Narratives as a Bridge to Informational Text.” Since the theme of this year's blog is resilience, I wanted to ask her some questions about her experiences as an educator as well as her new book, Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, ad Beaks

 

Carolee: I have been sharing your book, Bionic Beasts, with my students with dyslexia. They love the stories of animals with physical disabilities overcoming challenges by using prosthetic legs, fins, and beaks. Your title, BIONIC Beasts, not only normalizes the use of prosthetics (or any aids for that matter), but it even makes these animals sound a bit like superheroes. In your work with struggling students, how have you seen stories help them to develop a growth mindset?

Jolene: Wow, Carolee! My hope for Bionic Beasts is that it’ll inspire young readers to think about how they might help animals through technology, and I so appreciate you sharing it with your students! 

One of the biggest gifts books give us is the ability to broaden our world by learning about others’ experiences–stories help students become more compassionate and open to others’ viewpoints. Many of my students have connected with characters who have had challenges in their lives. I think it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone in your struggles, and books help young readers to see that. 

Carolee: Stories of resilience are so important to kids with learning challenges. I’m sure that in your role as a librarian, you have had the opportunity to connect readers to books that help them see real-life or even fictional examples of resilience. Are there any particular titles that you recommend?

 

Jolene: Learning differences don’t figure into most of the author Avi’s characters, but Avi has a long history with our school and has spoken candidly with our students about his own learning challenges. It’s inspiring for our students to have a personal connection to an author who has become so successful despite his struggles in school. We’ve also had visits with Henry Winkler and Patricia Polacco, both of whom spoke about how dyslexia impacted their lives. Because of these author visits, our kids love the Hank Zipzer and Here’s Hank! series as well as Polacco’s picture books. For more in the realm of books written by people who have experienced challenges themselves, we love Elana K. Arnold’s A Boy Called Bat trilogy, Leslie Connor’s books, Cece Bell’s graphic novel El Deafo, and Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel Guts.

 

Carolee: In your Bionic Beasts chapter about Lola, the Sea turtle, I was struck by how depressed she seemed to get when she couldn’t swim without bumping into the side of her tank. She basically gave up and sat at the bottom waiting for food. Then when she received her prosthetic fin, she made a complete turnaround and swam all the time. What do you think animal emotions can teach kids about their own emotions? 

Jolene on the farm

Jolene: I think understanding that humans aren’t the only creatures who experience emotions will help kids to better understand their larger connection to the world and, again, this is a chance for them to practice compassion. I grew up as a farm kid in a very small community, and even though I was surrounded by animals my entire life, books like Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White and A Horse Called Dragon by Lynn Hall helped me become a more thoughtful human being. In my personal and professional experience, many kids love nature, science, and animals, and sometimes, they connect with animal stories more deeply than stories with human characters. 

 

Carolee: Thanks for your insights. Check out our upcoming panel HERE. Check out more of Jolene’s books at https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/.

 

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