Alma Flor Ada

Biography

Alma Flor Ada was born in Camagüey, Cuba on January 3, 1938 to Modesto Ada Rey and Alma Lafuente. She grew up in La Quinta Simoni, a house owned by the family of Cuban revolutionary Ignacio Agramonte. Born into a family of storytellers, poets, and educators, she grew up hearing traditional tales re-told by her grandmother, father, and uncle. At the age of 15, she traded a quinceañera party for summer school in the United States, thus beginning her life as a bilingual person. After completing high school in Cuba, she earned a scholarship to attend Loretto Heights College. There she first encountered discrimination against Mexican-Americans, a discovery inspirational to her diversity appreciation efforts. After a year at Barry College in Miami, she earned a Diploma de Estudios Hispanos with an Excellency Award at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She completed her PhD at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholars Exchange Grant and appointed a Radcliffe Institute scholar at Harvard University and prepared her dissertation for publication, Pedro Salinas: El diálogo creador. In 1970, she and her four children relocated permanently to the United States. She currently resides in Marin County, California and has 9 grandchildren. Ada credits her children as a powerful influence in her writing, stating, "One of my greatest joys is that my daughter collaborates with me". Recently, Ada co-authored two books with her youngest son, Gabriel Zubizarreta.

Career

Dr. Ada began her teaching career in Lima, Peru where she taught at the Abraham Lincoln Bilingual School and the Alexander von Humboldt Trilingual School. In the United States, she was an associate professor at Emory University, a professor at Mercy College of Detroit, and the University of San Francisco where she retired as a Professor Emerita. At the University of San Francisco, she directed 160 dissertations in the field of International Multicultural Education. She was a visiting professor at the University of Texas, El Paso, St. Thomas University in Houston, The University of Guam, Associated Colleges of the Midwest, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, and Fundación José Ortega y Gasset, Madrid, and an author in residence at the University of Texas, El Paso and UC Davis. A renowned speaker at national and international conferences, she has shared her educational vision. She delivered the keynote speech, "Beyond Biliteracy", at the NABE 2014 conference in San Diego, where she was awarded the Mexican Government's Ohtli award for her lifetime contributions to the advancement of Mexican communities abroad through numerous projects such as the Pajaro Valley Literacy Project. In 2008, the California Association of Bilingual Educators (CABE) established "The Alma Flor Ada Teachership Award" given annually in her honor.

Alma Flor Ada is a major contributor to the advancement of critical pedagogy focused on personal realization and social justice, centered around incorporating experience based knowledge of parents and students into the classroom through authentic writing. She has published extensive educational materials, including Authors in the Classroom: A Transformation Education Process (co-authored with Isabel Campoy) and A Magical Encounter: Latino Children's Literature in the Classroom. She has authored reading programs by Harcourt School Publishers, Macmillan-McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scott Forseman, Santillana, and Frog Street. Dr. Ada has also served on numerous advisory boards, such as for Sesame Street in Spanish, Between the Lions, Loose Leaf, The Journal of Latinos and Education, and The National Association of Bilingual Education Journal, which she founded. Dr. Ada has contributed chapters to numerous books, including Teachers, Teaching, and Teacher Education (Harvard Education Review, 1987); Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle (Multilingual Matters, 1988); Literacy as Praxis (Culture Language and Pedagogy, Ablex 1990); Reclaiming Our Voices: Bilingual Education, Critical Education, and Praxis (California Association for Bilingual Education, 1995); Education Reform and Social Change (Multicultural Voices, Struggles and Visions, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996).

Writing

Alma Flor Ada has written extensively for both children and adults in both Spanish and English.

Her literature for adults includes two novels, A pesar del amor and En clave de sol, and her memoirs, Vivir en dos idiomas.

Her children's books are written in a variety of genres. A sample of her work includes:

The reality of Latino children in the United States has been inspirational for much of her work. Gathering the Sun (Once Upon a World Award) is a poetry ABC book in celebration of farm workers and is held in over 2000 libraries. For example, the picture book I Love Saturdays, y dominos, the chapter book My Name is María Isabel held in 1817 libraries, and two middle grade novels, co-authored with her son Gabriel Zubizarreta, Dancing Home and Love, Amalia all focus on the themes of celebrating heritage while living Latino in the United States. Yes! We are Latinos, co-authored by Isabel Campoy and illustrated by Caldecott Award winner David Díaz, is a combination of poetry and non-fiction depicting the richness of the Latino heritage.

Libraries Unlimited has published two volumes of Alma Flor Ada and You in the series The Author in You where the authors explain the inspiration and meaning behind their books.

Alma Flor Ada has also translated extensively from English into Spanish for authors such as Lucille Clifton, Evaline Ness, Judy Blume, Judith Viorst, Ruth Heller, Nancy Luenn, Audrey Wood, Jane Yolen, Cynthia Rylant. In collaboration with Isabel Campoy, Alma Flor has also translated works of authors such as Lois Ehlert, Ellen Stoll Walsh, Mem Fox, and Gerald McDermott.

Academic Honors

Literary Awards

In recognition of her entire literary career: