Come June, local author Monica Brown will be safely ensconced in the bedroom of her mother Isabel Maria Brown's childhood home in Piura, Peru, the oldest Spanish city in South America.

Surrounded by the paintings her mother did as a teenager, the author will settle in for a month and write in this colonial setting.

"It inspired me indirectly, and I'm looking forward to being directly inspired," said Brown, an associate professor of English at NAU. "I have more relatives there than I do here, and I can't wait to spend time with my tios and cousins."

An award-winning writer of bilingual picture books for children, Brown will be accompanied by her daughters, Isabella, 11, Juliana, 9, and will probably be working on a novel while in Piura, alternating writing in longhand and on the computer.

RICH FAMILY HISTORY

Born in Mountain View, Calif., Brown, 39, grew up speaking Spanish and English, and was influenced culturally by both her Peruvian mother and her father, who is half Hungarian Jew, and quarter parts Scottish and Italian.

"I have a diverse family history; it's rich and wonderful,' she said.

Brown has just published her fifth children's book, "Pele, King of Soccer/El rey del futbol," which throws a colorful focus on soccer great Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the town of Tres Coracoes, Brazil.

"As someone from South America, I'm pretty proud of Pele," Brown said. "The topic grew out of conversations with all sorts of people, including my husband Jeff [Berglund], who played soccer as a child and coached each of our daughters in micro soccer."

Brown also played soccer in California, where her junior high coach nicknamed her "Big Foot" because she had a really big kick. Her brother Daniel also played semi-professional soccer in San Francisco.

"Soccer really is an art form the way Pele played it," she said. "He was poor. They didn't even have a soccer ball. He grew up playing with grapefruit. They would steal socks from clotheslines and stuff them with newspaper." Brown said Pele played with a little team in town called the "Barefoot Team," because they couldn't even afford shoes.

"When you compare it with all the accouterments we have now, it's pretty amazing that the art of soccer rose above that," she said.

Pele went on to help win three World Cup titles for Brazil and to score 1,281 career goals before retiring in 1977.

TASTE FOR ADVENTURE

Brown got her start writing professionally right out of college when she landed a job as a journalist for the Guadalajara Colony Reporter for one year.

"I wanted to travel and I wanted to have adventure," she recalled. "I traveled all over. I made $500 a month and spent it exploring Mexico. It was a year that taught me that I wasn't cut out to be a journalist. All I had to do was cover one murder and that was enough."

She moved to Flagstaff in 1999 with her family, to teach at NAU. Today, Brown teaches Latino literature, women's literature, and comparative literature.

"I love teaching at NAU," she said. "I think the students are really enthusiastic about Latino literature. My courses are often their first exposure to that body of work."

Although she loves all her books, her first published book, "My Name is Celia," was perhaps the biggest surprise when she received the prestigious Americas Book Award for children's literature published in 2004.

"It is so meaningful to me that against all odds it won that big award," she said. "I got flown to the Library of Congress and I was able to bring my mother and children. To have all three generations together was a special memory."

Her Pele book is also memorable.

"It's my first from HarperCollins," Brown said. "It's a chance to be in bigger markets for me."

She has contracts for two more books with the publisher, including one about Latin jazz great Tito Puente and another detailing the comradeship of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. She also has a fiction book, "Chavela's Magic Chicle," forthcoming from Clarion in 2010.

Pele is still alive and lives in Brazil, she said.

"The artist and I both have to sign a copy," Brown added. "We plan to send Pele a copy of our book, with our deep admiration."

"Pele, King of Soccer/El rey del futbol"

Written by Monica Brown

Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez

Published January 2009 by HarperCollins

Hardcover, $17.99, ages 4 to 8

Available at Barnes & Nobles Booksellers,

701 S. Milton Road

Also available at Amazon.com

Other Monica Brown bilingual children's books:

"My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz," illustrated by Rafael Lopez

"My Name Is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral," illustrated by John Parra

"Butterflies on Carmen Street," illustrated by April Ward

"My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez," illustrated by Raul Colon