ABSTRACT

“I read tons of age-graded children’s literature when I was young, and it taught me English, it taught me humor, and it taught me respect for the genre. I was also influenced by Haitian traditions, culture and language (kreyol). My mother’s storytelling (‘contes’) and her memories of her life in Haiti are a great inspiration. I live and I write through them. I have been influenced by children’s writer Kristin Hunter and other children’s book authors.”