A “Feast” For Your Ears: New Children’s Book Set In Little Italy

The splashes of ocean waves against the ship that brought him here, the pops of the firecrackers on the Fourth of July, and the crunch of the zeppoles at the Feast of San Gennaro. These joyful noises translate to “Welcome,” “Freedom,” and “Unity” to young Paulie, an Italian boy who has arrived in New York City, where his grandparents own a red checkered tablecloth restaurant.

As Paulie makes friends and finds his place in his new home, the sounds around him grow richer-each one telling a story of family, community, perseverance, and opportunity.

Beautifully illustrated by Pratt Institute in New York graduate, Babi Wrobel, the story of “Sounds of America” originated with veteran teacher Jennifer Payne. The educator holds two master’s degrees and is currently pursuing her PhD in Literacy from St. John’s University.

With a quarter century of experience supporting students in the classroom and through Victory Garden Kids, the academic resource center she co-founded with her husband in 2015 to provide personalized learning strategies and support for families, Payne’s focus has always been to help kids feel confident in themselves as capable, powerful learners.

Straus Media caught up with Payne to discuss how her 25-year career inspired her book, the power of personalized learning, and who Paulie is based on.

Sound is an unusual central device for a picture book. What inspired you to tell the story through that lens?

I taught in the classroom for 25 years, and kids taught me what was needed. I read thousands of books to them over the years, and the more we can incorporate all of the senses into our picture books, the more engaging they’ll be.

How did the idea for the book originate?

About a year ago, I was in an Italian restaurant in Manhattan with my writing mentor, and there was a picture on the wall, and the server said it was the restaurant owner, Paulie. It was his grandpa who had immigrated and started the life that I envisioned my [character] Paulie would have. So, a little bit of a historical fiction connection, and just a love for the culture and the people.

What do you hope young readers, especially those who are immigrants or children of immigrants, will take away from Paulie’s story?

Every child essentially has someone in their family who immigrated. In America, that’s just the way it is. So, belonging and connection certainly are themes of this book. I want every child to feel a sense of belonging through the words that I used, and I hope that through the sounds and through the engagement in the book, any child who has a need for belonging and an explanation of their value can receive it.

Now, how did your decades in the classroom influence the way you approached writing for young readers?

The students taught me everything that I needed to know about how to engage kids: what they need day in and day out is individualized approaches.

I don’t necessarily think that there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to learning, but relationship and individualized connection to a child and the engagement and their motivation and connection is what I feel kids really need to be able to learn.

The more that they are engaged and the more that they care about it and the more that they are personally motivated to learn, the more the hard stuff sticks.

You’ve said the book is about family, community, perseverance, and freedom. Talk about how those are important concepts for children to understand.

Those words are more about feelings. And so, we talk about the actual visual sound, the physical sound of, for example, “splash,” that to Paulie’s ears isn’t the water actually saying “welcome.” It’s a feeling in the heart.

And so those words that conclude each of the pages are working to grow what matters to children, to help them feel safe and have belonging, and help them to lay the foundation of what their value is based on those words.

Why did you choose New York City specifically as Paulie’s point of entry into America?

I love New York City so much. I went down to the river, and I was just really hyper-focused on the experience that the Paulie in that restaurant picture had, and I was just listening to the sounds in the river, and I felt like, because of the immigration experience of Ellis Island and that’s basically the entry point of so many, and because Little Italy was here, I felt like it was the perfect setting.

What do you hope this book teaches readers about the immigrant experience, especially at a time when it’s so often talked about in a political/negative way instead of in human terms?

What I hope comes from this book is that every individual human is unique and extraordinary and that there is no division. We are all human beings who have a story that is so unique and beautiful, and the love that we can have for each other is what builds those words that are in the book.

We all are in this one beautiful space together, and if we can cherish each other, there is no separation. It’s very important that children embrace their culture. But I wish every child would realize we are just all here with each other.

Your mission is to help kids feel like capable, powerful learners. So how does “Sounds of America” reflect that mission?

In the back of the book, there are explicit instructions for grown-ups on how to help decode the sound words [in the story.]

We have to help a child feel engaged in the story, and the joy and the love of reading does that. If we can build that, then they’re connected to it. And then confidence is built.

What’s your favorite sound of America?

My favorite sound in the world is children’s laughter.

“Sounds of America” is available for purchase Oct. 6.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novel “The Last Single Woman In New York City.”