Language During Mealtime

Becca Eisenberg

Creative professionals from the language learning and children's education field

  1. 11/10/2022

    Interview with Rosena Fung, Author and Illustrator of Living with Viola

    Living with Viola written and illustrated by the talented Rosena Fung is a wonderful graphic novel about a young name Livy who is having trouble fitting into her new school. She also has a lot of anxiety, which is represented as a shadowy twin named Viola. When visiting Toronto, I found a beautiful and unique bookstore called Type Books. After browsing for a few minutes, I discovered this book, Living with Viola. I love middle grade books, especially ones that are based on memoirs. Listen to our podcast to learn more! In this middle-grade graphic novel, Livy navigates friendships, insecurity, family relationships, and how to navigate anxiety. As a tween and/or teen, anxiety can be overwhelming. I found the representation of anxiety of a shadowy twin, Viola, to be really interesting and helpful when trying to understand anxiety. It can also lead to productive conversations about self-talk. Often we talk worse to ourselves than anyone else! Living with Viola can be an excellent book for a classroom, home library, or book club.  When reading this book with your tween/teen, here are some discussion questions to start with: Tell me about Livy feels when she first begins school. Did you ever feel like Livy? What do you think Viola represents in the story? Do you think Viola is mean or supportive of Livy? Why is Livy embarrassed to bring her friend to her house?  Are you similar or different from Livy? If so, how?  To learn more about Rosena and her work, visit my website here.

    25 min
  2. 07/06/2022

    Interview with Author and Illustrator, Yehudi Mercado

    I am excited to present this podcast with Yehudi Mercado, author of Chunky and Chunky Goes to Camp. Both of his books are also memoir graphic novels, which make the books even more unique. Chunky Chunky is based on the experiences of the author/illustrator, Yehudi Mercado, who is a Mexican Jewish boy growing up in Texas.  The book begins with a trip to the doctor when Chunky is told again that he has to lose weight. What will he do? When he arrives home, he meets an imaginary friend who represents a positive mindset for Chunky throughout the book. Chunky decides to try various sports throughout the book to appease his parents, most specifically his father who is an excellent athlete. However, he just always ends up at the hospital, getting hurt. In the end, Chunky discovers his true talent and the place he feels like he truly belongs. To read more about this book, check out my review here. Chunky Goes to Camp is another excellent graphic novel written and illustrated by Yehudi Mercado. The book begins with Yehudi constantly getting in trouble at school for his humourous and mischievous personality. His parents decide to send him to a sleepaway camp. This Jewish sleepaway camp seems like a nightmare at first until he meets his friend, Pepe who changes everything for Yehudi. They have so much in common, including being Hispanic and Jewish. Chunky Goes To Camp is a perfect read for anyone going to camp this summer. To learn more about this book, listen to our podcast together. The book releases June 14th, so pre-order now to get your copy! To read more, visit my website here.

    24 min

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Creative professionals from the language learning and children's education field