Bethanie Murguia
Bethanie received her MFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York and worked as an art director for a variety of publishers, design firms, and marketing agencies before dedicating herself to children’s writing and illustration. She has created numerous picture books including We Disagree, The Favorite Book, Do You Believe in Unicorns, and Zoe Gets Ready. Her work has received many accolades, including the Parents Choice Award, Amazon Best Books of the Year, and Bank Street College Best Books of the Year. Bethanie lives on the West Coast with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and one dragon (bearded). When she’s not creating stories, she’s most likely hiking, biking, or snuggling up with her dogs and a book.
Reviews
What’s Your Name?
“Everyone has one.../ or maybe a few.// So what’s in a name?/ What does it do?” Deeney Murguia explores the utility of names in this picture book of appellative connection. Energetic, consistently metered and rhymed lines (“A name is a meeting,/ a greeting,/ a call.// A name looks for comfort/ after a fall”) alternate with group images of beings using their names. In an appealingly muted color palette, a community portrayed with varied abilities, ages, body types, and skin tones offers greetings to each other and to various animals, including a duck and a dog. As the pages turn, prose touches on how names (printed in red text throughout) can be used in different scenarios, signify important ties, and even evolve over time. It’s a moving exploration of what names can be and do—one that ends with an open invitation: “What’s yours?”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“What’s in a name? According to this thought-provoking conversation sparker, lots—more than readers probably realized. Names are fraught with meaning and spring from varied sources. As narrated in jaunty verse and clarified through speech bubbles, this spirited offering invites children to discover, ponder, and discuss fascinating things about names—their own and those of parents, family members, friends, neighbors, and others, even pets. Many kids may never have thought about names this way. They will learn names aren’t just personal identifiers, but also have functions. Names can be familiar or unique. They can honor people from history or pay homage to seasons, weather, birthplaces, and birth times. What if our names don’t suit us? We can “try new names, or add on a bit, / give them a whirl, and see how they fit”—as in the scene depicting a light-skinned child wearing a tutu who adds an A to their name (turning Louis to Louisa) and looks admiringly in a mirror. Perhaps this book’s greatest strengths are its cheery declarations, portrayals of diversity—in race, ethnicity, attire, and physical ability (a child fingerspells their name in ASL)—and depictions of respectful camaraderie and pride in being unabashedly oneself, expressed through text and charming illustrations, created with traditional printmaking methods and assembled digitally. Grown-ups should absolutely encourage lively post-reading discussion with kids—and note the characters’ final question (“what’s yours?”); response guaranteed! What’s a name for this richly satisfying book? Winner.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
When You Take a Step
“Walking becomes an entry point into deliberate living in this meditative picture book. With each step, “You begin a journey./You find your balance./You greet the world, wide and full,” read opening lines. In accompanying grayscale digital illustrations, pops of color appear across magenta footwear that acts as a visual through line. Mary-janes “crunch fall leaves” and high tops “share a path,” while other styles are featured in both urban and rural environments. Some scenes have a more social dimension, as in one picturing a hiker surrounded by the shadows of those who have walked before (including a dinosaur). Though the concept is simple—even a single step can empower—it uplifts via Deeney Murguia’s polished execution.” —Publishers Weekly
We Disagree
“No toxic discourse here—Murguia’s rodents model what it means to agree to disagree.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
The Favorite Book
"An appealing choice for reading aloud." —Booklist
"A thoughtful, age-appropriate discussion of decision-making that could well become a favorite." —Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review
Cockatoo, Too
"It’s all delightfully hilarious. Sure to become a read-aloud favorite." —Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review
Do You Believe In Unicorns?
Spellbinding read-aloud gold."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
The musing text, with its questions posed to the audience, will be a hit at storytime or during a lapsit, and the invitation to believe the impossible makes this a wonderful segue into encouraging kids to make up their own fantasy stories."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , Starred Review