Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Rajani LaRocca.
Rajani was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning novels and picture books.
She has always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels, picture books, prose and poetry.
She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks.
In this episode Rajani and I discuss:
- The importance of showing different approaches to problem solving and thinking.
- How she represented sibling dynamics in her picture book, Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers.
- Why she starts with a story and her unique approach to character building.
Plus, her #1 tip for writers.
About Rajani LaRocca
Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning novels and picture books, including Midsummer’s Mayhem (2019) a Massachusetts Book Award Honor; Seven Golden Rings (2020), the 2021 Mathical Prize Winner for Grades 3-5; Red, White, and Whole (2021), an Indie Next Top Ten and Junior Library Guild Selection with multiple starred reviews; Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers (2021) part of the Storytelling Math series, Much Ado About Baseball (2021), a Junior Library Guild Selection with a Kirkus starred review, and more.
She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks.
You can find Rajani on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Clubhouse. You can also find her as @rajanilarocca on Clubhouse.
Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers
For the Hindu holiday of Raksha Bandhan, Bina is determined to make beaded bracelets for her brothers all by herself. She finds out which colors her brothers like and dislike and sets to work. Working with her every-other-one beading pattern causes Bina to discover something new about patterns–and her brothers.
Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 372
(Right-click to download.)
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!
