MIAMI BEACH, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Juanes kicks off Origen tour at the Fillmore Miami Beach on September, 16, 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida. The animated series, written and produced by Manzano in conjunction with Fred Rogers Productions and Pipeline Studios, centers around Alma Rivera, an outgoing and mischievous 6-year-old girl living in the South Bronx with her Puerto Rican family. “I had to seize this opportunity because every opportunity to have more authentic portrayals of Latinos on television, you take it,” she said. While at first reluctant, she ultimately recognized it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. “They wanted me to create a children’s show based on a Latino family,” Manzano said. “I have already published five children’s books with Scholastic, so I thought I was going to dedicate myself to writing more.”Ī call from PBS Kids, however, took her in a different direction. “I didn’t think I was going to continue in television,” said Manzano, 71, who was on Sesame Street from 1971 until 2015.
After 44 years as the loveable Maria on Sesame Street, Sonia Manzano thought she was finally ready to move to a quieter, non-puppet inhabited neighborhood where she could spend her days writing children’s books.
