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February 2018: Between The Pages - Marisol Paramo - Bella The Caterpillar


Talent comes in all sizes and ages and Marisol Paramo is a prime example of that. At age 7 she wrote her first book, Bella the Caterpillar, which was published by Community Publishing. When Marisol was 10 she received praise from the New Mexico/Arizona Awards and was presented with the Bilingual Children's Book of the Year. But this book isn’t just your standard children’s book. The published work comes with an audio component, wherein the story is narrated in English and Spanish (the text is bilingual, too) and each page is accompanied by an original score. The book centers around a caterpillar who doesn't know what she is going to be when she grows up and turns to her friends - ants, bees, and dragonflies - to ask what they are going to be when they grow up, for ideas. After all the advice Bella begins to accept her change and turns into a beautiful butterfly.

Now 11 years old, Marisol sat down with us to discuss becoming an author, what she wants to be when she grows up and future projects.

What inspired you to write this book?

My dad had just written a book and I wanted to write a book. So in my class they were talking about transformation and metamorphosis of how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly and I thought that would be a good idea to write a book about.

You are now an award-winning author. What was the experience like when you won the award?

It was very nerve-racking actually because they had you stand up when they called your name and then they had you sit down. Then if you won they had you stand up again. I didn’t know what to do, so I sat down when they called my name and everyone shouted “Stand up, stand up!” Then I would stand up and they would say “Sit down, sit down!”

Have you always been interested in writing? What other interests do you have?

Ever since I was three I used to go into the bathroom and mix up a ton of soaps and toothpaste just to try to make a potion or something - I like hands-on things like that. I would want to be a scientist or an actor.

You just worked with Reviva on their new video Take Me Away. What was it like working on a music video?

I thought it wasn’t going to be as long because they kept doing retakes and more retakes - they did at least 10 retakes for each scene. We had to leave early in the morning and left when the sun was going down, but the experience was still a fun one.

You also sing. Is there any singing projects you have coming up?

I like to write songs just for fun. Me and friends like to do rip-offs it’s fun.

Do you feel being a young author has inspired young people in the process?

I think so. I’ll walk into the classroom and kids will say, “I want to write a book!”

Are there more books coming up? What ideas do you have?

I’m really drawn towards books about in the 60s when everyone wasn’t treated equally, so I’m planning on writing books similar to that.

What do you feel people should know about you that they may not know?

I don’t really focus on books. I like to be outside and hang out with my friends like a normal kid.

tWitch Cover Story
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