Cohn, Diana

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Cohn, Diana

Personal

Female. Education: Columbia University, M.Ed.

Addresses

E-mail—diana@dreamcarver.org.

Career

Author and educator. The Bee Works (environmental organization), cofounder, with Stephen L. Buchmann.

Member

National Writers Union.

Awards, Honors

Smithsonian magazine Notable Books for Children designation, 2002, for Dream Carver; Jane Addams Honor Book designation, Skipping Stones Award, and Best of Beyond Difference Award, all for Sí, se puede!/ Yes, We Can!; (with Stephen L. Buchmann and Paul Mirocha) Paterson Prize for Books for Young People honor, 2008, for The Bee Tree.

Writings

Dream Carver, illustrated by Amy Cordova, Chronicle (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

Sí, se puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., illustrated by Francisco Delgado, Cinco Puntos (El Paso, TX), 2002.

Mr. Goethe's Garden, illustrated by Paul Mirocha, Bell Pond (Great Barrington, MA), 2003.

(With Stephen L. Buchmann) The Bee Tree, illustrated by Paul Mirocha, Cinco Puntos (El Paso, TX), 2007.

Sidelights

Author and educator Diana Cohn writes picture books with themes that encourage readers to believe in themselves and stand up for what is right. Her first book, Dream Carver, was inspired by real-life wood-carver Manuel Jimenez. In the story, Mateo, a young wood-carver, follows his dream and creates life-size wooden animals painted in brilliant colors that are strikingly different from the traditional miniature figurines he has been taught to make. Although his father disapproves, Mateo is rewarded when his animals are well loved at a festival, and others recognize the value of his art. Dream Carver "shows how imagination can become a compelling force for change," wrote Ann Welton in School Library Journal. Coop Renner, writing for the same periodical, maintained that Dream Carver "opens a new way of seeing," and a Publishers Weekly critic concluded that "Cohn captures the boy's pursuit with straightforward eloquence" in her English/Spanish text. In Booklist Julie Cummins concluded that Cohn's text and the colorful illustrations by Amy Cordova "do justice to the vibrant Mexican art form."

With Sí, se puede!/ Yes, We Can!, Cohn expanded into a fully bilingual book, telling the story of the workers' strike in Los Angeles that took place during the 1980s. Told from the point of view of Carlito, whose mother is one of the janitors on strike, the story offers an understanding of why the workers needed to go on strike and shows how Carlito grows to support his mother in her efforts to gain fair pay. Cohn "does an admirable job of explaining … why the strike is necessary," wrote Maria Otero-Boisvert in School Library Journal, and in

Booklist Hazel Rochman deemed Cohn's text for Sí, se puede! "political and passionate."

As a hobbyist beekeeper, Cohn became interested in the honey-hunting tradition of the indigenous people of Malaysia, and she teams up with entomologist Stephen L. Buchmann to describe both the process and the myth behind it in The Bee Tree. Cohn met Buchmann while she was working on a radio documentary about North America's pollination crisis. Together, the scientist and writer co-founded an education organization, The Bee Works, to help people become better informed about pollination ecology. The Bee Tree also educates readers on the subject as Buchmann and Cohn supplement their story about a young boy learning the honey-collecting traditions with facts and photographs about Malaysia's rainforest. "Although the story can stand alone, this additional information adds significantly to the book's effectiveness," wrote Kathy Piehl in School Library Journal.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2002, Julie Cummins, review of Dream Carver, p. 1721; October 1, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of Sí, se puede!/ Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., p. 334.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October, 2002, review of Dream Carver, p. 53.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2002, review of Dream Carver, p. 802.

Publishers Weekly, April 29, 2002, review of Dream Carver, p. 70; September 9, 2002, review of Sí, se puede!, p. 71.

School Library Journal, July, 2002, Ann Welton, review of Dream Carver, p. 86; August, 2002, Maria Otero-Boisvert, review of Sí, se puede!, p. S61; November, 2002, Ann Welton, review of Sí, se puede!, p. 152; July, 2005, Coop Renner, review of Dream Carver, p. 43, and review of Sí, se puede!, p. 44; July, 2007, Kathy Piehl, review of The Bee Tree, p. 67.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), July 21, 2002, review of Dream Carver, p. 5.