Josephine Quintana - Art and Books
Exhibitions and Publications
"The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success."
Irving Berlin
Spotlight Magazine Articles, Suzhou, China
Published story on the Summerlin Writers' and Poet's Workshop blog http://www.summerlinww.blogspot.com/
How a Non-animal Lover Began to Write Children’s Books about Endangered Animals.
By Josephine Quintana, June 2013
The mangy black dog skirted out of nowhere, chasing my brothers and me on our rickety bikes near rusty railroad tracks in our poverty-stricken, gang neighborhood in the barrios of East Los Angeles. The edgy animal lunged at Eddie, my older brother, biting one of his legs and knocking him off his bike. Quickly jumping onto the young boy, the beast began nipping at his back as I watched the horrendous event in. When I panicked, my front bike wheel slipped into a train track causing me to lose control, spilling me off and onto a pavement where I scraped my mouth and chipped a side tooth.
Danny, my younger brother trailing behind me, leaped off his bike and rushed towards me, while the dog continued to attack Eddie. Danny and I picked up thick rocks and bulleted them towards the animal. Then a passing neighbor appeared with a big stick and chased away the furry attacker that scurried off with the rapidity of lightning as if off to strike again somewhere else. The humanitarian escorted us back to our home, carrying a bleeding and whimpering Eddie in his arms.
My family never had dogs or cats as pets in our homes. My fear from that traumatic event blocked my need for being a pet owner as a child and as an adult. I turned down invitations to homes of pet owners; the occupants had to move them elsewhere or lock them up when I arrived. Zoos rarely saw me. I never shelved children’s books about animals. When I had my own child, I read him bedtime books on everything except animals. Then one day, a trip to Australia in 2007 changed all that.
As an international art teacher, I lived and taught art in China for several years, spending long vacations in nearby countries. Traveling through the eastern coast of Australia, where 90% of the country’s population resides, a local tour agency cajoled me into a Koala tour at an animal sanctuary on Magnetic Island not far from Cairns. Holding the furry and thick, grey-haired animal in my arms and looking into its little slanted, black button eyes, I fell in love. After learning about the need to save endangered animals as told by the tour guide, I headed to several other Australian animal sanctuaries and reserves and filled my digital camera with pictures of more indigenous species. I couldn’t understand why Homo sapiens exploited God’s creatures to the edge of endangerment and some to their eventual extinction.
On the flight back to China, I sat next to a young girl reading a book on animals. I asked her if she liked the book, and she replied positively and then handed it to me. With deep interest, amusement, and leisure I perused it. Then it hit me. Yes! I’ll write a children’s book on Koalas and use my Australian animal pictures for the story. Since I loved poetry, I formatted the story lines in verse about a lost baby Koala who tries to find its mother after a natural disaster on Magnetic Island. In 2008, Llumina Press published my first book, Tiwi: the Lost Baby Koala of Magnetic Island, Australia.
Aspiring to create an awareness and conservation of endangered animals in the world, I incorporated animals in my art lessons for all grade levels. Additionally, I required students to do a short research paper on their selected creature that included origin, traits, and conservation information.
With the help of my students' artwork, I published my second book (Sasha and Malia, The Lost Giant Pandas) in 2010 about the National Treasure of China, the Giant Panda. I repeated the same Koala book theme. My students loved it, so we sent the book to President Obama as a gift to his daughters. A CNN news log published a blurb on it.
I don’t plan on becoming famous for these animal books. In fact, I wrote these humble stories as my legacy for the little ones in my life. I now like dogs, as long as they don't repeatedly jump on me, bark all the time, or bite me.
Nevertheless, I still don’t own pets, and I'm still leery of unleashed dogs; I guess some things will never change.
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"Writing is its own reward."
Henry Miller
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