Diversity Rules Magazine

Jesús Canchola Sánchez had his first short story published at the age of 7 in his Chicago elemen- tary school newspaper. He made his film feature debut as writer/director with the movie Bi er- sweet Waters. Pepito has a doll is his first children's story. Jesús was a boy who played with dolls. More details can be found here: h ps://www.bi ersweet- waters.com/cast-crew Releasing Jan. 20th, Pepito Has a Doll is centered on the experience of a shy young boy who lives with his grandmother. Pepito has only one friend, his doll Lola, un l Miguel ap- pears and they begin a joyful adventure together. Bilingual in English and Spanish, this story is an op- portunity for families to discuss tradi onal gender roles and same gender a rac on. As more and more of the children's book industry is incorpora ng LGBT characters, rarely do they feature families of color. SYNOPSIS Pepito loves his doll Lola. She's his only friend. He takes her to school in secret because his school- mates will make fun of him. He's shy. The other kids at school don't play with him. Every night he prays to find a friend at school. One day a new student ar- rives at Pepito's school, Miguel. Find out if Pepito and Migues become friends in this charming story of a boy and his doll. WRITER'S COMMENTS On Dolls: I grew up playing with dolls in secret. My abuela was the only one who allowed me to play freely with- out prejudice. My family was conserva ve and did not believe it was appropriate for a boy to play with dolls. I didn't understand that. All I knew was that it was fun to dress up dolls and do their hair. I'm grate- ful for my grandmother's openness in allowing me to play without judgment. One of my favorite dolls was named Lola which is why I named Pepito's doll with the same name. Pepito Has a Doll/Pepito Tiene Una Muñeca is in- spired by the freedom that I felt when playing with my dolls. The children that bully Pepito in the story, in a way, represent my family members who did not al- low me to play with my dolls when I was growing up. Their intolerance was frustra ng. I was caught a few mes and the dolls were taken away. I cried, but my grandmother always got them back for me or bought me new ones. She was my fierce protector as a child. I wrote a special thank you to my grandmother in the book because I would not be the man I am today if it had not been for her uncondi onal love. On Children's Stories: I love children's stories. They had such an impression on me and where I began to understand the power of story. I would read everything from Curious George to Bible stories when I was li le. My imagina on 6 | Diversity Rules Magazine | Jan 2021 Pepito Has A Doll A Story of A Boy and His Doll A Book By Jesús Canchola Sánchez

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