Roseanne Greenfield (Thong) is an award-winning author of 16 children’s books and is considered one of the leading multi-cultural authors for children. Her works include Green is a Chili Pepper, Round is a Tortilla, Día de Los Muertos, ‘Twas Nochebuena, One is a Piñata, Round is a Mooncake, The Wishing Tree, Red is a Dragon, Fly Free, Wish, Mei’s Magic Noodles, and more.
Roseanne’s honors include the prestigious 2020 Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Award for Distinguished Body of Works, given for 20 years of award-winning multicultural literature. She has also been recognized by New York Public Library’s 100 Best Book List, International Latino Book Awards, Smithsonian Magazine’s Best Children’s Books, Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best List, USA Today’s Best Holiday Book for Kids, Society of Librarians International, Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, and Eureka! California Reader Award.
Roseanne was trained as a K-12th grade teacher and university lecturer who has taught English, Literature, Writing, ELD, and History for over 30 years. She has also authored textbooks, study guides, poetry resources, and curriculum for educational publishers like Oxford University Press, Pearson/Longman, Chronicle Books, and Creative Teaching Press.
Roseanne was born in Southern California where she currently works as a teacher, editor, and educational consultant. She lived abroad for 21 years (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guatemala, and Mexico), where she learned Mandarin and Spanish, taught K- 12 and University-level English, traveled, and conducted research in history, architecture, cultural traditions, and language learning.
Roseanne studied Journalism, History and American Studies at California State University, Fullerton, and received her teaching credentials in History (Asian Studies emphasis) from California State University, Long Beach. She has two Master of Arts degrees (American Studies and TESOL) and a Doctor of Education (Emphasis in TESOL/Writing).
Roseanne started writing at the age five, when her first poem, “In May,” was printed in her local newspaper, the Pasadena Star News. She wrote fiction and poetry throughout high school and college and trained as a journalist at the Garden Grove Journal, Huntington Beach Independent, and Orange County Register newspapers. She soon fell in love with the short story genre and began publishing in literary reviews like the Asian Pacific American Journal, Dalhousie Review, Dimsum, Fiction International, Potato Eyes, Lullwater Review, Louisville Review, Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society, and Timber Creek Review. Her short story, Year of the Pig, was nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize.
Roseanne’s journey in writing children’s book writing began with her move to Hong Kong in 1993, and the subsequent birth of her daughter.
"I wrote my first book, Round is a Mooncake for my daughter, Maya, who was 2 years old at the time. I couldn’t find English language books that taught concepts (numbers, colors, shapes) with Asian themes in mind. For example, most of the books teaching numbers did so with a Western flavor: one Halloween pumpkin shining in the window, three waving flags for 4th of July.
There were few English language books about my daughter’s Asian surroundings that she could relate to. I wanted to find books that taught numbers with Asian themes: one bright lantern on Mid-Autumn Festival, three pork dumplings sitting in a steamer... "
Coming from a multi-ethnic family (her husband was a Malaysian-born Chinese and Mandarin was spoken with her in-laws).
Roseanne made it her personal challenge to find multi-ethnic books, toys and music for her daughter. During trips to Korea, Japan and Taiwan, she could not find a single black-haired doll or multicultural book in any of the stores. She felt it should not be this difficult to present Asian culture to English-speaking kids—especially when they lived in Asia! She found a similar phenomenon when she lived in Mexico and Guatemala to study Spanish. There was a lack of multicultural books for children and little multiethnic representation of children.
Roseanne decided to keep writing multicultural books for her daughter—especially about places where they lived and breathed the culture daily (and understood the language and traditions). She continued writing books geared towards different ages and interests, as her daughter continued to grow and wonder about the world around her.
Roseanne’s hobbies include hiking and camping, studying Mandarin and Spanish, ukulele and blues guitar, photography, cycling, studying and documenting ancient Chinese architecture, environmental protection, and vegetable gardening (currently tomatoes, sugar snap peas and beets).
Look for Roseanne’s newest book, Cat’s Can, which humorously features similarities between cats and kids, through lilting rhyme and laughs (Penguin/Random House, 2022).
For more information about Roseanne’s inspiration as a writer and history behind her books, please visit http://greenfield-thong.com/
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