Codeswitching: Why Do It?

by Janine Schall, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX

Los gatos black with eyes of green,

Cats slink and creep on Halloween.

With ojos keen that squint and gleam—

They yowl, they hiss…they sometimes scream.

From Los Gatos Black on Halloween

In last week’s post I shared responses from nine Latina teachers who explored several children’s books that use English/Spanish codeswitching. Most of these teachers grew up with Spanish as either their first language or a major additional language. In addition, they all live in South Texas, where well over half the population speaks Spanish at home and a sizeable portion of the community uses a mixture of English and Spanish (variously called Tex-Mex or Spanglish) in daily life. Codeswitching, for many of these teachers, is something that they hear and use every day. Codeswitching in literature, on the other hand, is not particularly common, though the amount of literature that uses codeswitching is growing. Why do some authors choose to use codeswitching in their writing?
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English/Spanish Codeswitching in Children’s Literature

by Janine Schall, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX

I spend los domingos with Abuelito y Abuelita.

Abuelito y Abuelita are my mother’s parents.

They are always happy to see me.

I say: –¡Hola, Abuelito! ¡Hola, Abuelita!—as I get out of the car.

And they say: –¡Hola, hijita! ¿Cómo estás? ¡Hola, mi corazón!

I Love Saturdays y domingos
Alma Flor Ada

“I love to see that my language is valued and that my ELL students are offered booksthat they can connect to.” – Gracia

There is an increasing amount of children’s and young adult literature that mixes more than one language in the text. This practice of codeswitching, or moving between languages within the same piece of text, seems especially popular in books that feature Latino characters and settings, perhaps because of the recent growth of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the United States.
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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story III

 

Young people understand more than we give them credit for. Reading books about difficult topics allows them to think about strife in their lives before they have to face it.– Jewell Parker Rhodes

 

Today’s blog concludes a discussion by authors Ruta Sepetys, Jim Deem, and Jewell Parker Rhodes at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books in March entitled “Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story.” In this section, the authors examine their feelings as they worked on books that contained difficult material, and what they are working on next.
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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story II

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona

 

I realized that the lowlands were always given to the poor, so naturally the Ninth Ward would flood.

“I’ll tell you what happened to me, but you have to promise never to use my name.”

. . . Kristallnacht was a blink in time . . .

Today’s blog continues the discussion between authors Ruta Sepetys, Jim Deem, and Jewell Parker Rhodes at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books in March entitled “Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story.”
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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona

Today’s blog begins a discussion by authors Ruta Sepetys, Jim Deem, and Jewell Parker Rhodes at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books in March entitled “Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story.” The discussion will continue in the next two blogs. All three authors have published books, both fiction and non-fiction, that deal with terrible historical events and the resiliency of people to endure in the most horrific of circumstances.
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Session Spotlight: Monica Brown

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona

 

. . . the story also spoke to her because it contained the themes of finding your voice, of imagination and determination, of social justice and what we can do to spread literacy . . .

 

I had the pleasure of interviewing author Monica Brown for my dissertation that focused on small, independent publishing companies that published bilingual books. Monica had just published two books with Luna Rising, which at the time (2005) was a new imprint of Rising Moon, Northland Publishing Company’s children’s book imprint. Luna Rising’s mission was to publish quality children’s books in English and Spanish, so both of Monica’s books were bilingual. Read More »

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Session Spotlight: Karen Lynn Williams

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona

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Books can be very powerful, and be careful what you give your children to read!

Karen Lynn Williams

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I attended a presentation at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books entitled “Picture Books as Global Passports” with authors Karen Lynn Williams and Monica Brown in March. Karen Lynn Williams has published 14 children’s books, many of them about children in other countries, including Africa, Haiti, and Pakistan.
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The Hero’s Journey from Another Point of View: Here Lies Arthur

By Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Ambassador for USBBY

“Cei laughed off the slanders. ‘They’re only stories,’ he would say. ‘What do stories matter?’ But he wasn’t stupid. He knew as well as Myrddin that in the end stories are all that matter” (Reeve 204).

British author Philip Reeve uses the well-known legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable as a springboard for his novel Here Lies Arthur. Reeve offers explanations for the unexplained in the original tales, which may be part history and greater part folklore, and have been embellished by retellers since the late 5th and early 6th century when King Arthur supposedly performed heroic and even magical deeds. Along with his knights, Arthur has been credited with defending Britain from invading Saxons. He has embodied the virtues of loyalty, honor, and chivalry. In his author’s note, Reeve provides historical and literary documentation for the novel.
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Healing Hearts with the Hero’s Journey: Heartsinger

By Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Ambassador for USBBY

In Heartsinger, author Karlijn Stoffels tells the story of two characters, Mee and Mitou, both born into difficult circumstances in relationship to their special storytelling gifts. As each one travels on a hero’s journey, readers grow more and more certain that their meeting is inevitable. Yet, Mee and Mitou are so different that one wonders if a fairy-tale ending is possible for the “singer of sorrows” and the girl with a sunny outlook on life.
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A Hero’s Journey Guided by Hindu Deities: Tiger Moon

By Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Ambassador for USBBY

In the theory of “suspension of disbelief” as suggested by British poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, it is the storyteller or author who must spin such a compelling tale that the listener/reader will accept a fantasy as a plausible reality. In Tiger Moon, author Antonia Michaelis takes readers on a magical journey of love, deception, courage, fear, and sacrifice in India. Framed like the story of Scheherazade who told her tales for 1,001 nights in order to escape death, Safia tells her tale to Lalit, a servant who is supposed to be guarding her while she awaits her marriage night. On that night, her wealthy husband will learn she is not a virgin and will have the right to kill her.
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