Drawing from Mexico’s rich cultural heritage, storyteller Mary Joan Gerson celebrates the courage and resilience of the feminine spirit through the stories of seven extraordinary Mexican women. Maya Christina Gonzalez uses radiant colors in a style reminiscent of famous Mexican muralists to capture the spark behind the stories. A folktale collection that will be enjoyed time and again, this is truly a fiesta for the eyes, the spirit and the heart.
A colorful, surreal trip to a Mexican fiesta Naty is so excited – this is the first year she gets to be one of the puppet people in the parade celebrating Guelaguetza, a July festival of folk dances in southern Mexico. At first the sights are overwhelming – the feather dancers, the pi-a (pineapple) girls, the fish-men who perform El Pescado, the dance of the fish. Then her father helps her into her mouse costume and sees her off to a safe start in the parade, but in the excitement of the hustle-bustle, Naty drops her clay whistle and becomes lost. Mustering all her courage, she finds her way back to the parade just before nightfall and is soon reunited with her father. This simple story, told in a distinctly childlike voice, is brought to life in Freschet’s exuberantly colorful oil paintings, which feature sights strange and magical and which capture the essence of Mexico.
“Chronicles the early life of an orphaned Mexican free-tailed bat, from its birth to its adoption by a new mother. Includes back matter about bats”–Provided by publisher.
An account of the establishment of the Aztec empire in Mexico and of the terrible battle between the Aztecs and the Spaniards known as the Sad Night, of La Noche Triste.
“This sensitive treatment of La Noche Triste, or The Sad Night, the last battle the Aztecs won against the Spaniards, is a highly effective melding of graceful, lucid text and stylized art. Designed to resemble Aztec codices, the illustrations appear in double-page strips above the bordered text. Beginning with the Aztec migration to Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City), the history of this people is traced through their final conquest by Cortés’s forces…. This title has the distinction of combining myth with historical fact in a particularly successful manner. An engaging introduction to Mexican history.” —School Library Journal
Fourteen-year-old Clara Luna spends the summer with her grandparents in the tiny, remote village of Yucuyoo, Mexico, learning about her grandmother’s life as a healer, her father’s decision to leave home for the United States, and her own place in the world.
Kat can think of dozens of good reasons not to go on a boring family vacation to hot, grungy Mexico. Number one: missing her friend Fiona’s minicamp. If she’s not there, she’ll begin eighth grade as a social reject. Despite her reluctance, Kat ends up on a teen adventure tour where she meets Nando, a young Mayan guide (who happens to be quite a cutie). As they travel to different Mayan ruins each day, Nando tells Kat his original legend of Muluc, a girl who lived in the time of the Ancient Maya. The dangerous, dramatic world in which Muluc lives is as full of rivalry, betrayal, and sacrifice as Kat’s world at school. And as she makes new friends and discovers treasures in Mexico, Kat begins to wonder: Is she willing to keep sacrificing her self in exchange for popularity?
A cumulative rhyme summarizes the life’s work of renowned Mexican potter, Juan Quezada. Additional information describes the process he uses to create his pots after the style of the Casas Grandes people.
Tired of being laughed at because they are different, a pair of multicolored twins run away to ask the animals where they really belong.
Humorous contemporary illustrations of traditional Mexican American proverbs, which appear in both English and Spanish.
A desert mermaid living in an oasis seeks to save her people by rediscovering the forgotten songs of their ancestors.