Oge Mora
Oge Mora graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. When not painting in her studio, Oge is in the kitchen cooking her late grandmother’s recipes. Her first picture book, Thank You, Omu!, was a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent illustrator award, an Ezra Jack Keats illustrator award, a New York Times Notable Book and Editors’ Choice, and a Junior Library Guild selection. Her newest picture book is called Saturday. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Interview With Oge Mora
What stories inspired you as a young reader?
My favorite thing as a child was storytime. I think as a creator today, I am constantly thinking about the read aloud experience. Are there fun sounds to read out loud or repeat? Are there places for the listener to participate in the story? For me, a good picture book isn’t just a story, it's an experience.
What advice would you give to young writers?
That you are a writer. It isn’t something you have to be a certain age to be. If you are writing because it makes you happy, then you are a writer. The beautiful thing about being creative is that it isn’t something someone decides for you, you decide it for yourself!
What are you working on now?
I’m collaging my next book, I’m From written by Gary Gray Jr. and writing my next picture book!
Omu, "queen" in Igbo, which the author used to mean "grandma", has just made a pot of thick, red stew. One by one, her neighbors drift by to investigate the tantalizing aroma drifting from her kitchen. And one by one, she shares her stew until the pot is empty. What will Omu eat for supper now? An uplifting story of sharing and community that will make you feel as if you've just eaten a hearty bowl of Omu's red stew and gotten a big, warm hug.
¡Todos en el vecindario sueñan con probar el delicioso caldo de Omu! Uno por uno, siguen sus narices hacia el delicioso aroma. Y a uno por uno, Omu ofrece una porción de su comida. Pronto la olla está vacía. ¿Ha sido tan generosa que no le queda nada para ella?
