Ole! Flamenco

Ole! Flamenco

Written and Illustrated by: George Ancona

**2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book**

Elementary Grades

"FLAMENCO-it's dancing, it's singing, it's guitar playing! It's a way of expressing oneself that has evolved from many influences over hundreds of years. Today flamenco is practiced throughout the world and all across the United States. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, we meet Janira Cordova, the youngest member of a company studying to perform flamenco. Here the students learn the tools of their art-how to move their hands, arms, bodies, and feet to the traditional rhythms of the music and songs. Each aspect of flamenco is explored in detail. The origins of the art form are also explained, which draw upon the musical traditions of Indian, Arab, and North African cultures, among others. Janira's flamenco has progressed well, and at Santa Fe's annual Spanish Market in July, she finally has a chance to join the older dancers and perform in the town plaza. With colorful, action-packed photographs and accessible text, readers are sure to feel Janira's excitement and catch flamenco fever. ¡Olé!"

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.leeandlow.com/books/388/hc/ole_flamenco

Fiesta Babies

Fiesta Babies

Written by: Carmen Taffola
Illustrated by: Amy Cordova
**2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book**

This is a fun book for young elementary students who learn all about celebrations and holidays celebrated in Hispanic culture. Spanish words are sprinkled throughout the book giving teachers an opportunity to use this as a language building and vocabulary exercise as well as a great cultural read.

Jennie's Review

Online Resources:
http://www.carmentafolla.com/

Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin

Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin

Written and Illustrated by: Duncan Tonatiuh

**2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book**

"From first-time Mexican author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh comes the story of two cousins, one in America and one in Mexico, and how their daily lives are different yet similar. Charlie takes the subway to school; Carlitos rides his bike. Charlie plays in fallen leaves; Carlitos plays among the local cacti. Dear Primo covers the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of two very different childhoods, while also emphasizing how alike Charlie and Carlitos are at heart. Spanish words are scattered among the English text, providing a wonderful way to introduce the language and culture of Mexico to young children. Inspired by the ancient art of the Mixtecs and other cultures of Mexico, Tonatiuh incorporates their stylized forms into his own artwork."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://duncantonatiuh.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/dear-primo/

¡Sí, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!

¡Sí, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!

Written by: Diana Cohn
Illustrated by: Francisco Delgado

"¡Sí, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! is a bilingual fictional story set against the backdrop of the successful janitors’ strike in Los Angeles in 2000. It tells about Carlitos, whose mother is a janitor. Every night, he sleeps while his mother cleans in one of the skyscrapers in downtown L.A. When she comes home, she waves Carlitos off to school before she goes to sleep. One night, his mamá explains that she can’t make enough money to support him and his abuelita the way they need unless she makes more money as a janitor. She and the other janitors have decided to go on strike.

How will Carlitos support his mother? Carlitos wants to help but he cannot think of a way until his teacher, Miss Lopez, explains in class how her own grandfather had fought for better wages for farmworkers when he first came to the United States. He and the other children in his class join the marchers with a very special sign for his mom!"

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:
http://www.dreamcarver.org/sisepuede.php
http://www.seiu.org/division/property-services/justice-for-janitors/

Armando and the Blue Tarp School

Armando and the Blue Tarp School

Written by: Edith Hope Fine & Judith Pinkerton Josephson
Illustrated by: Hernan Sosa

"This poignant picture book narrated by a young boy is based on a true story of a New York City teacher who set up a school on a blue tarp spread on the ground near a garbage dump in Tijuana, Mexico. Armando works all day with his father in the foul-smelling dump, picking through trash, "some to sell, some to use." He begs his parents to let him go to the blue tarp school, and at last, his parents allow him to attend in the afternoons. Clear, unframed, double-page pictures in watercolor and ink with thick white outlines show the children on the tarp in the midst of the noisy colonia (neighborhood) and also the bond between the boy and his teacher.

When a huge fire burns the neighborhood, Armando's picture of the fiery night is printed alongside the story in the newspaper, and people send money to build a real schoolhouse. A lengthy final note fills in the facts and includes photos of the teacher and the pupils at the school now. Without melodrama, Armando's story shows what poverty means and the hope that things can change."

BOOKLIST

Web Resources

http://www.bluetarpschool.com/

The Farolitos of Christmas

The Farolitos of Christmas

Written and Illustrated by: Rudolfo Anaya

Elementary Grades

"Richly colored full-page paintings show a lovingly individualized Chicano family that is part of a New Mexico community in the open landscape under the starlit winter sky. Anaya's upbeat story, first published in a magazine in 1987, focuses on Luz, a young girl whose father, wounded in World War II, hasn't come home yet. Her sick grandfather is not strong enough to cut the logs for the traditional luminarias (small bonfires), so Luz and her Indian friend Reina from a nearby pueblo find a way to make farolitos (lighted candles in paper bags weighted with sand) to light the way for the Christmas pilgrims. The Spanish words are a natural part of the narrative (they're explained in a glossary at the back), and if the plot's contrived (Dad returns home just in time), the image of the path of light is touching and beautiful."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://gosw.about.com/od/artscraftsandshopping/a/luminarias.htm

Calling the Doves

Calling the Doves
Written by: Juan Felipe Herrera
Illustrated by: Elly Simmons

Elementary Grades - Bilingual

"Calling the Doves is poet Juan Felipe Herrera's story of his migrant farmworker childhood. In delightful and lyrical language, he recreates the joy of eating breakfast under the open sky, listening to Mexican songs in the little trailer house his father built, and celebrating with other families at a fiesta in the mountains. He remembers his mother singing songs and reciting poetry, and his father telling stories and calling the doves. For Juan Felipe, the farmworker road was also the beginning of his personal road to becoming a writer."

Children's Book Press

Online Resources:
http://www.parents-choice.org/article.cfm?art_id=295&the_page=reading_list

A Day's Work

A Day's Work

Written by: Eve Bunting
Illustrated by: Ronald Himler

"Francisco, trying to find work for his grandfather, or abuelo, who has just arrived from Mexico, acts as a liaison between Abuelo, who doesn't speak English, and Ben, who wants to hire a gardener for a day's work. Eager to earn the badly needed pay, Francisco assures Ben that his grandfather is a skilled gardener (Abuelo is in fact a carpenter). Returning at the end of the day, Ben is shocked to discover that Francisco and Abuelo stripped his field of the plants and left the weeds. Abuelo is also angered, learning only now that Francisco had lied to Ben, and refuses payment until they have done the job correctly.

Recognizing the older man's integrity, Ben rewards Abuelo and Francisco with the promise of "more than just one day's work." Says Ben of the plants: "The roots are still there. If they've replanted early, they'll be alright." Similarly, Francisco is given a chance to start over. He changes from a naively parental figure to a child who "had begun to learn the important things." The shift in the boy's role quietly suggests not only the importance of a work ethic but also Francisco's need to be a child, guided by a caring adult."

Publishers Weekly Review

Online Resources:
http://www.mrscarosclass.com/eve_bunting.htm

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

Written by: Kathleen Krull
Illustrated by: Yuyi Morales

"Cesar Chavez is known as one of America's greatest civil rights leaders. When he led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn't always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family slaved in the fields for barely enough money to survive. Cesar knew things had to change, and he thought that—maybe—he could help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire country listened."

Publishers Review

Web Resources:
http://www.chavezfoundation.org/
http://litplans.com/titles/Harvesting_Hope_the_Story_of_Cesar_Chavez_Kathleen_Krull.html

What Can You Do with a Rebozo?

What Can You Do With a Rebozo?

Written by: Carmen Taffola
Illustrated by: Amy Cordova

"A cradle for baby, a superhero's cape, a warm blanket on a cool night--there are so many things you can do with a rebozo. Through the eyes of a young girl, readers are introduced to the traditional shawl found in many Mexican and Mexican-American households. Pictures of family life frame simply rhythmic text, and rich bands of jewel-toned acrylics highlight and demonstrate both the versatility of the shawl and the warm family relationships."

School Library Journal

Clatter Bash! A Day of the Dead Celebration

Clatter Bash! A Day of the Dead Celebration

Written and Illustrated by: Richard Keep

"A Day of the Dead Celebration by Richard Keep honors both the memorial and festive aspects of this Mexican holiday. Cut-paper collages, accented with paints and markers show impeccably dressed skeletons feasting and chasing butterflies as night falls. "Swirl-twirl/ Cha-cha-cha/ Boom!/ Clatter Bash!" appears beneath a spread of fireworks exploding over bony dancers and sombrero-clad skeletons playing music. A more formal explanation of the holiday's traditions concludes the fiesta-bright volume."

Publishers Weekly Review

Online Resources:
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-education.html

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book

Written and Illustrated by: Jeanette Winter

"Every year Don Pedro and his family make papier-mache skeletons, or calaveras, for Mexico's Day of the Dead fiesta. From Angel and Doctor to Mariachi and Unicornio, each letter of the alphabet has its own special calavera.

Come dance with them in this unusual ABC book inspired by a real Mexican family of artists and the many colorful folk-art traditions surrounding the celebration of the Day of the Dead.

Includes a glossary of Spanish words and an author's note."

Publishers Synopsis

Web Resources:
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-education.html

That's Not Fair! / No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

That's Not Fair! / No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

Written by: Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca
Illustrated by: Terry Ybanez

"This handsome picture-book biography in English and Spanish relates the struggle of Mexican American farmworkers in the early twentieth century through the perspectiive of Emma Tenayuca, who became a labor activist. Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, in the early twentieth century, Tenayuca was shocked by the gross inequality around her, comparing her comfortable home to the extreme poverty of the many families of factory and farmworkers. As a smart, kind teenager, she spoke in public about the plight of the pecan shellers in the factories, and at 21, in 1938, she led 12,000 workers in a strike that forced factory owners to raise wages. Co-authored by the late Tenayuca’s niece and one of the activist’s friends, the story is heavy on exclamatory messages. Yet the stirring, unfamiliar chapter in labor history and the humanitarian efforts of Tenayuca herself will intrigue children, who will also like the bold, mural-like illustrations, which show a child confronting suffering and growing up to make a difference."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/tenayuca.html

In My Family

In My Family

Written and Illustrated by: Carmen Lomas Garza

Available in English and Spanish

Taken from the introduction of In My Family: "When I was growing up, a lot of us were punished for speaking Spanish. We were punished for being who we were, and we were made to feel ashamed of our culture. That was very wrong. My art is a way of healing these wounds."

This is a very touching auto-biographical story told in pictures of how the author dealt with cultural issues related to growing up in a Mexican-American community in Texas. If you loved her first book, Family Pictures, you'll love sharing more of the stories and images that remain so vividly in Carmen's memory, and that have influenced so much of her art.

Winner of the Pura Belpre Honor Book, 1997
Texas Bluebonnett Master List, 1997-1998