




Biography
2019
Events:
- Participates in the International Book Fair (FIL) Guadalajara, Stand Editorial Santillana, México
- Participates in the Sixth Reading Marathon of Books and Art, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Drakko Planet Saga (12 books) distributed by the newspaper El Comercio (Quito) through an agreement with Penguin Random House
- 1st Ecuadorian and first person to receive the award Women for Liberty the Bolivian Academy of America, Bogota, Colombia
- Twelfth Conference for the Young and the Arts organized to honor Iturralde organized by La Asuncion School, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Delivers lecture Importance of Children’s Literature in Basic Education, University of Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Her eleventh Grandson, Robert Henry Kernan, is born in Golden, Colorado
- El puente de los coyotes, Santillana Loqueleo, presented at the University of Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Participates in the 13th Reading Marathon, Quito, Ecuador
- Dos superheroes volvánicos
- Editorial SM-Barco de Vapor
- El puente de los coyotes -Editorial Santillana Loqueleo
- De todo como en botica (45 articles) – Revista Familia, El Comercio
- Delivers talk at the Latin American Conference Eco Festival, The Rights of Children in a Green World Through Children’s Literature
- Talks to children about her literature in schools in Colorado, United States
- Inaugurates the children’s literature Edna Iturralde Library in the Asuncion School, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Participates in the Twelfth Marathon of Stories and Reading, Quito
- Nominated by the Organization of American States, Quito Office, for the Ibero-American Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- 10th grandchild born (Oliver Bruce Kernan Da Silva)
- El pirata Barbaloca – Santillana Loqueleo
- Green Was My Forest (English translation) – Mandel-Vilar Press
- El pequeño Bun – Girándula, Asociación Ecuatoriana del Libro Infantil y Juvenil.
- La casa que el bosque se tragó
- Las islas donde nace la Luna
- María Manglar
- Aventura en los Llanganates
- Te acompañará el viento – Santillana Loqueleo
- De todo como en botica (52 articles) – Revista Familia, El Comercio
- Receives an award for her literary career: Escritora cinco estrellas-Tus obras dejan huella, from Santillana, Honduras
- Deliveries lecture: Roots – Multicultural Themes in Children’s Literature, Club Árabe Hondureño, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Delivers lecture: Reading as a Resource for Developing Emotional Intelligence in Children, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award by IBBY Ecuador
- Participates in the 11th Marathon of Stories and Reading, Quito, Ecuador
- El domador de cerdos – Editorial Santillana Loqueleo, México
- Conoce a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” – Editorial Santillana Loqueleo, United States
- La leyenda del Arupo y otros relatos mágicos y míticos – Editorial Don Bosco, Quito, Ecuador
- De todo como en botica (52 articles) – Revista Familia, El Comercio
- Receives the Award for National Cultural Merit Matilde Hidalgo de Procel during the Tenth National Women’s Conference, Manta, Ecuador
- Starts writing De todo como en botica , a weekly column Revista Familia , El Comercio newspaper, Quito, Ecuador
- Participates in the television program Babau, te puedo pregunta (La Oreja Del Pez & Ecuadorian Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, RTV Ecuador TV).
- The Islands Where the Moon is Born (English translation)
- De todo como en botica (52 articles)
- Los pájaros no tienen fronteras selected by the Mexican Secretariat for Public Education among 11,953 entries
- Awarded »Diploma de Honor destacados de Girándula/IBBY Ecuador 2014/15»’ for »Los hermanos que cosechaban cuentos de hadas»’, Santillana Ecuador
- The Ecuadorian Ministry of Education finances films of ‘¿De dónde vienen los bebés de las hadas?; El Pirata Barbaloca’and El misterio de las bolitas de colores’
- Gives speech at the Americas Latino Eco Festival, Denver, Colorado, United States on Ecology in Children’s Literature
- Gives a talk at the conference Entre libros y lectores: Encuentro de formadores’, SM, Bogotá Colombia on The Power of Reading: My Personal Route
- Gives a talk at the International Center for Integral Formation, México, D.F. Reading as a Door to Emotional Intelligence
- Gives a talk at the International Book Fair, Guayaquil, on the topic The World of Dragons and Books of Fantasy
- Gives a talk at the Book Conference of Cuenca on Ethnohistory in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- Y surgió en el vuelo de las mariposas
- Drakko Planet Saga
- Awarded the prize Honorable Mention Darío Guevara Mayorga for Children’s and Young Adult Literature by the Municipality of Quito for ¡Viva el fútbol! Santillana Alfaguara Ecuador
- Awarded the Condecoración Manuela Sáenz Libertadora del Libertador en el Grado Internacional de Primera Clase 2014 by the Bolivian Academy of America, Quito Chapter
- Gives a talk at the meeting of the California Association for Bilingual Education on Biliteracy and Educational Equity for All, San Diego, California, United States
- Five books selected for the A+ Common Core Spanish Literacy school districts of 17 states of the United States (Conoce a Simón Bolívar; Conoce a Miguel de Cervantes; Un días más y otras historias; Caminantes del Sol; Verde fue mi selva)
- Barnes and Noble, United States selects Conoce a Miguel de Cervantes as its lead book for Spanish Heritance Month
- 9th grandchild born (Jay Pon van Maasdijk)
- Y surgió en el vuelo de las mariposas
- The Islands Where the Moon is Born
- ¡Viva el fútbol!
- La casa que el bosque se tragó’
- Drakko Planet Saga: #1 Los 12 de fuego / #2 Jaune en Kru-urk»’
- Awarded the Skipping Stones prize for international multicultural books for Los pájaros no tienen fronteras-leyendas y mitos de Latinoamérica Santillana Colombia
- The Ecuadorian National Symphony commissions and performs premier of La joven y la culebra, orígenes del pueblo cañar composed by Eduardo Florencia based on Los hijos de la Guacamaya, Santillana Ecuador
- Participates in the Second Ibero-American Conference on Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Bogotá, Colombia
- Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award by IBBY Ecuador
- Selected as the Woman of the Year for Literature, Revista Hogar, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Awarded First Prize in three categories at the International Latino Book Awards for: When the Guns Fell Silent; The Day of Yesterday; Conoce a Simón Bolívar and Second Prize for Conoce a Miguel de Cervantes
- Identified as a landmark writer of Latin American children’s and Young Adult Literature in the book Hitos de la de la literatura infantil y juvenil iberoamericana , Fundación SM Madrid
- Barnes and Noble, United States selects Conoce a Miguel de Cervantes as the lead book in its Spanish Inheritance Month
- 8th grandchild born (Amalia Lucia van Maasdijk Bauer)
- Los hermanos que cosechaban cuentos de hadas
- Los pájaros no tienen fronteras-leyendas y mitos de Latinoamérica
- Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award by IBBY Ecuador
- Honorable Mention, Latin American Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Lima
- Awarded Merit Diploma for the Career of a Latin American Author by the Chilean Academy for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Santiago de Chile
- Lágrimas de ángeles breaks the record for number of a book sold in Ecuador by Santillana (64,000)
- Gives the magistral talk Bridges Between Children’s Literature and the Arts at the International Seminar on Esthetic Culture and Education in the Arts, University of Cuenca, Ecuador
- Gives Magistral Talk The Challenge of Writing on Multicultural Themes en Children’s and Young Adult Literature, First Conference of Teachers, Universidad de las Americas, Ecuador
- Give Magistral talk Ort Ancestors, the First Navigators of the Pacific at the Seminar on Anthropology of American Peoples, at the Faculty of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, National University of Mexico
- Lágrimas de ángeles breaks sales records for a book published in Ecuador (46,000)
- Her beloved mother and best friend, Edna De Howitt, dies
- 7th grandchild born (Leonie Henriette van Maasdijk Valle)
- Los pájaros no tienen fronteras – Leyendas y Mitos Latinoamericanos
- Las muchachas de la lluvia
- Conoce a Miguel de Cervantes
- Conoce a Simón Bolívar
- El sueño de Manuela
- María Manglar
- Cuando callaron las armas
- Gente Joven, Cuba
- When the Guns Fell Silent
- The Day of Yesterday
- Simón era su nombre, Verde fue mi selva and Caminantes del Sol selected by the Book Bank of Venezuela
- Samay School, Tumbaco, Ecuador establishes the Edna Iturralde Library
- Simón era su nombre and Cuentos del Yasuní»’awarded Honor Diplomas by Girandula/IBBY Ecuador
- Awarded Quito Diploma of Honor by the Radio Station Multimedios, Digitl Newspaper Al Dia, Ecuador
- Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award by IBBY Ecuador
- Gives talk the Amazon Forest: Oxygen for the World and for Stories, International Book Fair, Bogotá, Colombia
- Presentation of Verde fue mi selva, Santillana Colombia
- Participates in the Book and Cultural Fair of Medellin, Colombia
- Participates in the Sixth Story and Reading Marathon, Girandola/IBBY Ecuador
- Participates in the International Conference of Writers of Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Ecuador
- Participates in the Third Marathon of Stories, Cuenca, Ecuador
- Instituto Tecnológico Superior Cordillera de la Universidad Metropolitana de Quito presents a theatrical work based on Te acompañará el viento
- Selected as the Woman of the Year by Revista Vanidades
- Opens the Book Fair of Cuba with presentation of Simón era su nombre, Editorial Gente Nueva, Cuba
- 6th grandchild born (Wolter Diederick Pon van Maasdijk)
- Llevo tres mil años pintando- Biografía de Oswaldo Guayasamín
- Sueños con sabor a chocolate
- Martina las estrellas y un cachito de luna
- Micky Risotto y el perro chihuahua
- Awarded National Award Dario Guevara Mayorga for Children and Young Adults Literature for Simón era su nombre
- Awarded Silver Rose to the Woman of the Year for her literary work
- Receives Honor Awards from IBBY Ecuador, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and Convenio Andres Bello for Verde fue mi selva being selected as one of the ten best Latin American Children’s and Young Adult books of the 20th century
- Gave talk in the Thirty-Second IBBY World Congress on The Strength of Minorities, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Participated in the Second Congress of the Word, organized by the State Cultural Institution, León, Salamanca, Guanajuato, México.
- Cuentos de Yasuni
- Simón era su nombre
- Simón era su nombre
- Verde fue mi Selva selected as one of the ten best books published in the twentieth century by SM Publishers, CLIJ Literary Magazine for Children and Young Adults Literature (Spain)
- As President of the Ecuadorian Academy of Children and Young Adults, organizes with Girándula/IBBY Ecuador the Reading Marathon, Quito, Ecuador Thomas Diederick van Maasdijkh gran
- 5th grandchild born (Thomas Diederick van Maasdijk Bauer)
- Pecas y las cucarachas
- La leyenda del Arupo y otros relatos míticos y mágicos
- Lagarto no come lagarto
- Johnny Tallarín en: ¿quién grita desde tan lejos?”
- unto al cielo-cuentos sobre Quito
- Imágenes del Bicentenario\
- Altea, Grupo Santillana
- Awarded Great Collar Aurelio Espinosa Polit for Literature (awarded for the first time to a writer of Children’s and Young Adult literature)
- Honor Award Municipality of Quito for ¿De dónde vienen los bebés de las hadas?
- As president of the Ecuadorian Academy of Children and Young Adults, participates in the organization with Girándula/Ibby Ecuador of the Reading Marathonn, Quito, Ecuador
- Lágrimas de ángeles surpasses the sales in Colombia of the commemorative edition of A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Marquez
- Selected as a Women of the Year of Ecuador ????
- El perro, el farolero y una historia de libertad
- El caballo, la rosa y una historia de rebelión
- El cóndor, el héroe y una historia de independencia
- Olivia y el unicornio azul
- Te acompañará el viento
- ¿De dónde vienen los bebés de las hadas?
- The Ecuadorian National Ballet presents de premier of Pecas based on five of Iturralde’s short stories
- As president of the Ecuadorian Academy of Children and Young Adults, participates in the organization with Girándula/Ibby Ecuador of the Reading Marathon, Quito, Ecuador
- Selected as one of Twelve Outstanding Women in Ecuador by Hogar Magazine, Ecuador
- Selected for the IBBY Ecuador Honor List for Cuando callaron las armas and ¿De donde vienen los bebés de las hadas?
- Presentation of Las islas donde nace la Luna at the New York Book/Expo
- Selected as one of the Fifty Personalities that Marked the Year 2000 by Vistazo Magazine
- Colegio Politécnico y el Grupo de Arte produces the premier of a play based on Lágrimas de ángeles
- 4th grandchild born (Adriaan Diederik van Maasdijk Bauer)
- El día de ayer
- Los hijos de la Guacamaya
- Las islas donde nace la Luna
- The Islands Where the Moon is Born
- Cuando callaron las armas
- Un país llamado Ecuador
- First contest Edna Iturralde Award for Children and Young Adults Literature, established by Fundación Hoy en la Educación.
- Nominated to the IBBY/ Ecuador Honor list for Lágrimas de ángeles and J.R. Machete
- Founds and becomes president of the Ecuadorian Literary Academy for Children and Young Adults
- Cuando callaron las armas
- Los sapísmos detectives
- Verde fue mi selva selected for the second time by the Mexico’s Ministry of Education, for inclusion in school libraries
- Nominated for the Iberoamerican Contest for Children and Young Adults Literature
- Awarded Skipping Stones Award for es Un día más y otras historias-cuentos de animales en peligro de extinción
- Miteé y el cantar de las ballenas
- Lágrimas de ángeles
- Awarded National Award to the Arts Quitsa-To for Children and Young Adults Literature
- Presented her books at the Lectorum Book Store and the Ecuadorian Consulate in New York
- Universidad Técnica del Norte presents a play based on Entre cóndor y león
- …..Y su corazón escapó para convertirse en pájaro selected the Mexican Ministry of Education for inclusión in all school libraries
- Honor Award, Municipality of Quito for J.R. Machete
- First Ecuadorian writer to publish with Editorial Norma: Aventura en los LLanganates, El Pirata Barbaloca y El gran secreto, y El misterio de las bolitas de colores
- Visiting professor, summer conference: Children’s Literature with Latin-American Identity
- Scholastic Books recommends Verde fue mi selva, Caminates del Sol ,and …Y su corazón escapó para convertirse en pájaro
- 3rd grandchild born (Kilian Lefant van Maasdijk)
- J. R. Machete
- Aventura en los Llanganates
- El Pirata Barbaloca y El gran secreto
- El misterio de las bolitas de colores
- Skipping Stones Award for Verde fue mi selva, United States
- Honor Award from Municipality of Quito for Caminantes del Sol
- Honor Awards from Provincial Council of Pichincha for Los grandes se irán y los chiquitos se quedarán
- Visiting professor at summer conference on Children’s Literature and Racism in Latin-America, Dartmouth College, United States
- Caminantes del Sol
- Torbellino
- Nacional Award Darío Guevara Mayorga for category of Children and Young Adult Literature for. .Y su corazón escapó para convertirse en pájaro,
- Visiting professor summer conference: Negritude in the Andean Countries and the creation of Children’s Literature
- 2nd grandchild born (Taceo Lenfant van Maasdijk)
- Y su corazón escapó para convertirse en pájaro
- Becomes Professor of Creative Writing, Universidad San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador
- Cornell University, Creative Writing course
- Moves for one year to Ithaca, New York with husband and youngest children
- Becomes the first Ecuadorian writer of Children’s and Young Adult Literature to be published in Ecuador by Editorial Alfaguara, Grupo Santillana
- Verde fue mi selva
- Ser y compartir (60 stories to teach values)
- Un día más y otras historias,
- Writes, produces and directs Juguemos al teatro to promote, conflict resolution, increase emotional intelligence and promote reading by poor pre-school children for Educational Development Center, United States
- Organizes writing and publication of an anthology of Christmas stories by Ecuadorian authors for children and young adults
- Founds the Unión de Escritores y Escritoras de Literatura Infantil (UDELI to promote writers and the publishing of children’s and young adult literature
- Ser y compartir
- Based on collection of original field qualitative data identifies lack of self-esteem and national identity to be key theme for children’s and young adult literature in Ecuador
- As a consultant with PLAN International Working Boy Program prepares an Ecological Magazine for the Young: Es tú mundo y tú decides
- Resigns as director of La Cometa Ecological Magazine
- Prepares report for World Bank on reading and education
- Importance of Reading at an Early Age
- Aventura en los Llanganates
- Works as a travel agent at Kleintours, in Quito (3 years)
- Verde fue mi selva
- Junto al cielo-cuentos sobre Quito
- Los Sapísimos detectives
- 6th child born (Nicholas Devereux Kernan)
- Los Ecochicos
- Reformulates La Cometa as an ecological magazine
- Desde el jardín de las arañas doradas
- La patrulla del páramo
- 5th child born (Henry Edward Kernan)
- ¡Oh!, la historia tralalá ….!
- Remarries (Bruce Kernan)
- Founds and directs the first Ecuadorian chidren’s magazine La Cometa which is distributed free with the newspaper Diario Hoy & reaches approximately 210,000 children per week
- Husband dies in airplane accident.
- Works at VIP Publicity as creative director of educational campaigns to generate environmental awareness
- 4th child born (Carolina van Maasijk)
- 1st story published in El Comercio newspaper in Section Tales of Ecuador
- Panchita, la hipopótamo
- Moves to Quito, Ecuador
- 3rd child born (Willem van Maasdijk)
- Begins writing children stories and reads them to her children
- Moves to Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Organizes reading at the Guayaquil Play Group
- Organizes an experimental reading group for children 1 to 3 years
- 2nd child born (Eric van Maasdijk)
- Moves with her husband to Lima, Peru
- Born 1st child (Diana van Maasdijk)
- Closes boutique
- Married to Diederick van Maasdijk
- Opens the first boutique in Ecuador, Carnaby Street, in what was formerly the greenhouse of an old residence
- Designs clothes and jewelry in silver and copper
- Awarded Best South America Travel Guide by Intrav Travel
- Works as a tourist guide for Metropolitan Touring, Ecuador
- Works for two months as secretary in the cultural department of the United States Embassy, Quito
- Graduates from the American School of Quito with degrees in Science, Baccalaureate and Bilingual Secretary
- First woman to win inter-school oratorical contests: First Prize Gold Medal President Otto Arosemena Gomez and Gold Medal from the Municipality of Quito
- Writes for School Views, Colegio Americano newspaper
- Begins writing “made to order” short stories for her classmates at Colegio Americano.
- Attends Colegio Americano de Quito
- Attends Colegio de América.
- Returns to Ecuador & lives with grandparents
- Attends Santo Domingo de Guzman School.
- Goes to school at Oakland Public School.
- Her mother and stepfather take her to live in Oakland, California.
- Her mother, Edna De Howitt, marries again
- Father (Enrique Iturralde), an officer in the Ecuadorian Air Force, dies in an airplane accident when 28
- Born, May 10 in Quito, Ecuador