Poems, Proverbs, and Plays: Hispanic Heritage

Product Description: Young Jorgito lives in San Francisco's Mission District, but he hasn't forgotten his native El Salvador. He recalls the volcanoes, the tasty cornmeal pupusas, and his grandmother's stories. As he changes from timid newcomer to seasoned city dweller, Jorgito's memories and new adventures form a patchwork of dreams — the movie in his pillow — that is perfectly suited to his new bicultural identity.

Musician, botanist, baseball player, pilot ― the Latinos featured in Bravo!, by author Margarita Engle and illustrator Rafael López, come from many different countries and from many different backgrounds.

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule — until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

The poet remembers summers growing up in Mexico in poems presented in both English and Spanish. Readers meet his family and join them in the everyday joys of the sunny season. Illustrations are as colorful and evocative as the words.

Vivid images combine with lively language to present a sunny season with its foods, fun and family in short poems in both English and Spanish.

Thirteen poems rejoice in Latina women, their diversity, and their roles. This short, illustrated collection celebrates Spanish-speaking countries as well as bilingualism in the United States. Illustrations swirl across each page, combining computer generated and traditional art with energetic results.

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma.

"In this collection of Mexican dichos (proverbs), artists Ralfka Gonzalez and Ana Ruiz bring to life their favorite sayings from Mexico and the United States. These dichos celebrate life and culture, reminding young readers that Donde hay gana, hay mana/Where there's a will, there's a way. With vibrant color and folk art flavor, the festive paintings draw readers into a whimsical world where bumblebees play bongo drums and roosters sing all day." — Children's Book Review

"The Hispanic neighborhood in Soto's 21 poems is brought sharply into focus by the care with which he records images of everyday life: the music of an ice cream vendor's truck, the top of a refrigerator where old bread lies in plastic, dust released into the air when a boy strums a guitar…Diaz's woodcuts complement the poems perfectly: the silhouettes are fanciful and dynamic but do not draw attention from the words on the page." — Publishers Weekly

On August 8, 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the U.S. Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice and the third woman to serve the Court. In elegant free verse, Carmen T. Bernier-Grand describes Sotomayor's remarkable journey from her childhood in the projects near Yankee Stadium to her stellar academic achievements at Ivy League universities to her rapid rise in the legal profession. When confirmed as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, she said, "I feel I can touch the sky." Also included: Biographical Summary, Glossary, Chronology, Sources, and Notes.

"This literary offering stands out for its beauty and depth of expression. Argueta, a Pipil Nahua Indian, reaches deep into his childhood in rural El Salvador for memories and for his connection to Mother Earth. The poems alternate between bitterness and joy. Nahuatl words are peppered throughout, almost defiantly…Poems about fire, wind, and water speak to those life-giving forces as friends and protectors." — School Library Journal

Product Description: This groundbreaking bilingual anthology, carefully designed for middle readers, is a mosaic of voices demonstrating the energy, creativity, and diversity of the fastest-growing minority group in America. Wáchale! (Spanglish for "watch out!") includes folk tales, stories, and poems in both English and Spanish, and brief autobiographical essays by both well-established and emerging writers representing all shades of Latinos.

Thirteen young Latinos and Latinas living in America are introduced in this book celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino and Latina experience in the United States through free-verse fictional narratives. Each profile is followed by nonfiction prose that further clarifies the character’s background and history, touching upon important events in the history of the Latino American people, such as the Spanish Civil War, immigration to the US, and the internment of Latinos with Japanese ancestry during World War II.
 

"Rosenberg, director of the Bilingual Theater, provides a collection of staged Hispanic plays for children, providing a wide range of plots and multicultural characters throughout. Plays are provided in English, Spanish and bilingual formats and provide diverse and often unexpected themes which will prove refreshingly different for young aspiring actors." — Midwest Book Review

Rhymes from Spanish speaking countries are presented in Spanish and recreated in English to form a bilingual collection, with attention to the sounds and patterns of both languages. Vivid illustrations complete this appealing book.