About Isabel

Isabel Estrada grew up in a large Mexican-American family among the desert borderlands of Arizona, dancing and singing her way through life. Always a dreamer, she blends her life experiences as an educator with her love of Latino culture and folklore into stories. Isabel believes that a powerful story helps us make sense of the world. Her children’s stories are culturally authentic and artfully integrate play, music, movement, and adventure.

Prior to her adventures as a latina author, she was recognized as a Teacher of the Arts Fellow by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Isabel lives in West Michigan with her husband and stays active through writing, dancing, singing, listening to music, and cooking. She also serves on the leadership team for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Michigan chapter. Her adult son continues to be among her biggest fans.

I’ve traveled to 14 countries and throughout the U.S., and plan to travel more.
I trained as an opera singer for umpteen years and sang German lieder. Not lederhosen.
In eighth grade I read Gone with the Wind in one day from start to finish without stopping.
I presented a song recital at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts as part of my Teacher of the Arts Fellowship!
Before my son was born, I purchased over 100 picture books—and read him the stories in utero. He absorbed a healthy dose of music—singing and dancing, and drums—as I was a dance instructor while pregnant.
In high school I was convinced that birds flocked to my window to sing back to me as I rehearsed. Really.
Like many composers and poets, a walk outdoors opens up my writing, deepening my perception of the world in new and different ways.

When asked to bring in a prop for my first dance improv class, I brought a toilet plunger. I washed it first.
My baby brother once chased me down the street throwing oranges at me. (Okay, so he has six older sisters. Give him a break.)
When I get in a writer’s rut or seek inspiration, I play rousing music and dance with abandonment. New ideas and phrases emerge when I move my body through space.
One of the most moving experiences I witnessed as a teacher was dance-drama improv created by a group of seventh graders. They silently depicted the anguish and pain of farm workers in the field. I cried.
I sometimes find myself in a love-hate relationship with books. When reading a great book, the rest of life is put on a hold—I’m totally mesmerized—hooked in a trance (and that means nothing else gets done. Sorry, familia.)
In high school I was convinced that birds flocked to my window to sing back to me as I rehearsed. Really.
Improvisation! That’s my trademark as a dancer, musician, actor, cook, and writer.

About Isabel

NBN Interview with Dr. Isabel Estrada