Read a Book with Roberto and Frank

Book Reading Events 

Join Roberto Lugo and Frank Berrios, Co-Authors of We Here: What Kind of Artist Will YOU Be?, for a special children’s book reading and art activity for ages 3-9.  Free and family-friendly!

September 13 | 4 pm McPherson Square Library

September 14  | 1 pm |  Free Church of St. John as part of the We Here Block Party event to celebrate the installation of Roberto Lugo’s new sculpture.

October 18  |  4pm |  Harriett’s Bookshop

October 19  |  11am  |  Taller Puertorriqueño

We talked with Roberto Lugo and Frank Berrios to learn more about the process of writing this book and its meaning to them. Enjoy this interview with the artists!

Roberto, what was the inspiration for including a bi-lingual book for children in the We Here project?

At the core of this project, my goal is to inspire people of all ages in Kensington to dream beyond the expectations that others have put on them and follow their passions. A children’s book seemed like a wonderful way to accessibly share that message. Growing up in the neighborhood as a child of Puerto Rican immigrants, speaking Spanish and English interchangeably was a part of everyday life. I know this experience is very common in the community, where there are plenty of folks who have immigrated to Kensington, and Spanish may be their only language. Publishing the book in both languages means that more people will be able to read and enjoy it.

Roberto, what impact do you hope it will have on the children who read it?

I hope the kids who read this story learn not to settle for what others think they should do with their lives or who they should be. I believe there are artists in every community, but unfortunately, there are stigmas around what people who look like me or grew up in my neighborhood can achieve.  I was only ever expected to work in service and never imagined a life outside of those assumptions until I had the opportunity to pursue art as an adult. In this story, the main character explores his city and shares his immediate reactions to the possibilities he sees – I hope that narrative encourages kids to acknowledge their own curiosities and learn that they can be anything they want to be.

Roberto, what was the importance of reading when you were a child?

Reading has always held a lot of significance for me, and, as a child, I was able to see the disparities in access to literacy education first-hand. I spent most of my formative years in the Philadelphia public school system. In elementary school, I remember taking turns reading out of oversized books and many of my classmates struggling to get through their sentences. For a brief period, my family moved to Connecticut before returning to Kensington. During that time, the school I attended in New Haven covered much more advanced chapter books and novels like Matilda, The Outsiders, The Diary of a Young Girl, and a biography of George Washington Carver. I was reminded of these inequities again as a freshman in high school. I attended a technical high school in Kensington and decided to major in culinary arts. This school didn’t have the funding to offer a full curriculum, so my class was given a textbook and instructed to “copy down what’s in the book in case someone looks into the classroom.” I remember feeling worthless and inferior when this happened, especially comparing that experience to my elementary class only a few years before. I came to understand that reading has the power to offer knowledge and, in many cases, a way out from what I was going through in my community and at home. It’s always felt like different books have come into my life during times when I’ve needed them.

Frank, what was the collaborative process for this book?

I was overjoyed when Roberto reached out to me about this project! I loved his idea to create a book to accompany the We Here installations. Our first step was a brainstorming session. We set up a phone call and talked about a few things before we got to work on what the actual story would be. I think we shared a few different story ideas before we settled on the idea of Career Day. Once we locked in a rough story arc, Roberto got to work on the text. When he shared his first manuscript, we worked out the book map to clearly figure out the action on each page. We trimmed and revised the text several times before we got to a place where we were both happy with the pace of the story. Then, it was on to the art stage!

Frank, what do you hope to inspire with this book?

I was personally inspired to learn about Roberto’s work and his journey in life. I think it is extremely important to see people who find joy in what they do. Or see people who look like you do things that you never thought were possible. Working in a creative field can often be challenging and unrewarding. But I hope this book inspires people to embrace whatever bit of artistic expression that brings them happiness. If you like to sing, sing! If you like to dance, dance! If you like to run, jump, draw, rap, you should do it. When you are happy, it makes other people happy. And art makes me happy. So we need more art in the world!

Frank, which came first, the artwork or the story?

The story almost always comes first. Most stories have a beginning, middle, and end, which is a story arc. Once you figure out the story arc, you can figure out how to break the story down into various pages. We knew we wanted to start the story in a classroom, so that was our opening spread (a spread is one piece of art that goes over two pages). When we worked on the story, we created Art Notes to share with the artist, Meghan Galloway-Edgar. Art Notes help the writer and artist understand exactly what happens on each page of the book. I was super excited to see Meghan’s sketches as they came in, and I absolutely love the final illustrations! It’s always fun to describe a scene and see what the artist comes up with! My favorite image is young Roberto giving his abuela a picture. So sweet!