F. Isabel Campoy

F. Isabel Campoy is the well-known author of numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theatre, folktales, biographies, and art. 

She is a researcher and author of several books on the culture and civilization of the Hispanic world.  Songwriter and storyteller, Isabel’s goal is to provide children the key to interpreting the world in a fun, challenging and affirming way. 

Isabel’s poetry has appeared in eleven anthologies published by Harcourt and Santillana.  Poetry has been her way to communicate to children the wonder of life and words, the joy and magic of creativity.

Many of Isabel’s poems have been transformed into songs by Suni Paz, and appear in the Música Amiga collection. 

As a playwright and lover of theatre she has explored the re-telling of traditional tales and written original plots that encourage children to familiarize themselves with the way to express emotions, understand others, and value oral and written communication.  She has produced eleven anthologies of plays by various authors. Many of the plays have been written originally by her. 

Isabel has shared with young readers her knowledge of the arts and her profound interest in creative expression through the publication of four books of paintings by artists from Latin American and Spain, produced in parallel editions, in English and Spanish in the collection Gateways to the Sun / Puertas al Sol.  An art collector herself, and a daring painter during summer vacations, Isabel invites the viewer to explore a personal relationship with art, all kinds of arts.  The Journals which accompany these art books contribute to facilitate that children develop a close relationship with all forms of art. 

“Honrar, honra” (To honor, honors) said José Martí and Isabel has written, with her co-author Alma Flor Ada, biographies of important scientists, poets, artists, and leaders of the Hispanic world to honor their accomplishments.

F. Isabel Campoy is a scholar devoted to the study of language acquisition, a field in which she started publishing in 1973 after obtaining her degrees in Philology from Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Reading University in England, and UCLA in the United States.

It is not surprising that Isabel has authored books to facilitate language acquisition and development, to discover the playful possibilities of language, and to explain the history of the Spanish language. 

Born in Alicante, Spain, Isabel traveled at the age of 16 to the United States where she lived in Trenton, Michigan. Years later she moved to the United States, where she has lived in Los Angeles and Boston. Currently, she lives in San Francisco. 

About herself she says, From my mother I inherited a robust pride in my roots, a wealth of folklore through her storytelling and sayings, and an abundant sense of humor. From my father, the passion for learning and the art of teaching.

Hyperion : F. Isabel Campoy is the award winning author of numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theatre, stories, biographies, and art. As a researcher she has published extensively bringing to the curriculum an awareness of the richness of the Hispanic culture. She is an educator specialized in the area of literacy and home school interaction, topics on which she lecturers nationally. An internationally recognized scholar devoted to the study of language acquisition, a field in which she started publishing in l973 after obtaining her degrees in English Philology from Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain; Reading University in England, and UCLA in the United States. She is a 2003 Laureate author, awarded by San Francisco Public Library and is also the recipient of the 2005 Reading the World Award from the University of San Francisco. F. Isabel Campoy has collaborated with Alma Flor Ada on numerous children's books, including Pio Peep!. Alma Flor and Isabel live and work in San Francisco, CA.

An interview with papertigers.org : For the first sixteen years of my life I never questioned my identity. I was Spanish, from Alicante, a happy, athletic, gregarious, artistic student. I went to public schools and was a member of sports teams, classical music clubs, and art appreciation classes.  I knew how to manage moving between two languages, Catalan and Spanish, although I couldn't understand why the government wanted to delete all other languages spoken in the country in favor of Spanish only. I knew that by not questioning authority I would be safe, but I couldn't stop questioning all the limitations on freedom imposed by Generalisimo Franco, our dictator.

And then I came to the United States. Here I acquired a new identity: I was Latina, at least to English speakers. I was living in Trenton, Michigan, and it was the year 1963.

As I reflect on my life as an author, I realize that the more than one hundred books I have published have all been a statement of what it means to be Latino. In a poem (Suni Paz composed music for it) I say:

I realized that there are no Latinos in México or Guatemala, El Salvador or Cuba. There are no Latinos in any of the twenty Hispanic countries; there are Mexicans or Guatemalans, Salvadorians or Cubans. The name Latino has been adopted in the United States by English speakers to refer to the Spanish-speaking population and their descendants in this country. Latinos are, then, a new culture separate from those of their countries of origin - wider, more complex, and in many ways richer. And I wanted our Latino children to know that.

So, in co-authorship, Alma Flor Ada and I created a plan to furnish young readers with tools that would help them choose their own identities as Latinos in the U.S. When we wrote books about Hispanic lands we talked about the expanded frontiers of our identity, no longer just México or Nicaragua, Cuba or Puerto Rico, but also Bolivia and Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, Spain and Honduras. We invited readers to meet poets born in all historic ages and all countries, from the Mayan A'Kabal to the Mexican Octavio Paz, Chilean Gabriela Mistral, or Spaniard Federico García Lorca; to read the biographies of Benito Juarez from Mexico and Fernando Botero from Colombia, José Martí from Cuba and our Latino César Chavez; and to broaden their horizon by inclusion of a second language, English, while  holding on proudly to their heritage language and all its richness.

A few years ago, as a new generation of children was born to our families both in the U.S. and abroad, we realized that they would need a common past and we published books such as ¡Pío Peep!, Mamá Goose, Merry Navidad, and Animal Nursery Rhymes. They are all bilingual books, because some of these children speak only English, others only Spanish, and we hope that they will master both languages sometime soon. As mothers of young Latino children wait in line at conferences for our signatures, they share that they want to keep the memory of their own mothers and the joy of their own childhood as contained in the pages of those nursery rhyme books.  Hopefully, they will sing to their children those same songs, and will teach them the games they played, and will realize that children can learn two languages simultaneously without much problem.

This year, we have ventured into yet another recovery of common memory with the publication of Tales Our Abuelitas Told. The diversity of our origins is also manifested in the color of our skin, the language of our ancestors, the faith of our families. Many tales from the Hispanic folklore bring those attributes to light in characters, settings, and humor. We chose twelve stories that have crossed the boundaries of time and space to find a place in our common identity as Latinos.

I am aware of the difficulties inherent in growing up Latino. Forty percent of Latino children under age seventeen is working full time jobs: not because they choose to do so, but because their families need them to do so. It is these young people who I wish would someday look at the pages of our books and find the strength to push themselves forward. Theirs is a very difficult reality but I believe in their honesty and their courage. I believe they deserve better.

A pen seems to be a very fragile tool; however, it is the only one I have to help me dream and fight, work and hope, love and rebel. And it has served me well throughout the years to do exactly all that. Realizing the power of writing, Alma Flor Ada and I decided to share that power with others and wrote Authors in the Classroom: A Transformative Education Process. In those pages we invite readers to start paving their memory with short, simple words. “Who are you?” we ask, and the answers are poems that repeat in each line I AM, in an affirmation of self and life.  We propose to our readers that they write the Alphabet of their own lives, select photographs of someone important to them, and self-publish a book entitled "A Person in my Life" to give voice to the many silent heroes of our society. We guide them through a poem about "Where I Come From", asking them to begin each line of their poem with the words "I come from...these parents, I come from such foods, those landscapes, hopes, fears, tears."  I have done this work with thousands of teachers, students, and parents and I have never failed to be moved to tears, amazed by the power of their words.

My brother Diego has patiently created for me a collection of over two hundred pens he has brought back from everywhere he goes. Now, friends also add to that collection, which I call my "Treasure Chest."  There is nothing more powerful than words and I hope that each one of us will have the strength to use our pen to tell the brave history of our humanity.

We, Latinos, are just beginning to write that part of history.

Blankety Blank : Strange yet wonderful day yesterday. I had heard there was a chance to take a class with Alma Flor Ada - an author whose books I've used many times in my classes. I came in early, got a ticket, and wandered out to find a coffee. Next to the Horace Mann building, I see two older Hispanic women, sipping coffee and eating breakfast sandwiches. I happen to ask, in Spanish "Esta cerrada?" while pointing at the door. We start a conversation; they mention that they are trying to get in but the door is locked. "Is there an entrance on the other side?" I gesture with my hand showing that completely on the other side of the building there is an entrance that surely is open: you have to get past the guard in a kiosk (who is usually reading a newspaper, specifically the sports section) to get in.  "I'm off to find coffee," I say and that's that.  I get my coffee, come back and head up to the class. The two Spanish women turn out to be Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Compoy, and their class is a delight - lots of easy concrete ways to get kids and families to start writing, to find their voice, to say something important.  Long story short, after the afternoon class, I am able to stand and have a long conversation with Isabel. She is charming, smart, able, and witty, all packaged in a tiny, feisty, Spanish women with a laugh that reminds me of sleigh bells.  Alma Flor Ada is white haired, somewhat grave, and certainly shyer, much less comfortable than Isabel standing in front of a crowd. She has written 250 children's books which is mind blowing, but gives me both pause and encouragement. I have sent out nearly a dozen of my best books in the last year, as yet no luck. But the encouraging thing to me is that I begin to see where I can get much better, where I can improve my characters, hone my words, say less to say more, define by showing, not telling; in short, get better.  An encouraging day... I give them my card, get to chat. I can see myself doing this in the twilight of my years, going around the country, talking with others, teaching teachers, and especially teaching writing...

Bilingual Collection Green Books and CDs :

Author Visit DVDs :

Alphabet Poetry and Nursery Rhyme Books and CDs :

Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy Collection :