A bilingual retelling of a Guatemalan folktale about a young man who tries to win the hand of a Mayan princess by making his song as sweet as that of the birds.
Guatemala
Materials from Guatemala
The Bird Who Cleans The World: And Other Mayan Fables
A collection of Jakaltek Mayan folktales, first told to the author by his mother and the elders of his Guatemalan village. They deal with the themes of creation, nature, mutual respect, and ethnic relations and conflicts. Told for the first time in English and illustrated with Mayan images, these stories and fables speak eloquently of an ancient culture, at once preserving its history and recreating its tradition.
My Pig Amarillo
Amarillo is Pablito’s best friend. They do everything together-run, hide from each other, jump in the mud. They are inseparable, just like many best friends. But Amarillo is a bit different-he is a little yellow pig. When Pablito comes home from school one day and Amarillo isn’t there, Pablito is devastated. Where could he be? Pablito can’t eat; he can’t sleep. His heart feels as if it will break wide open. But Grandfather has an idea, a way for Pablito to send a message to Amarillo, and help him say goodbye to his best friend. My Pig Amarillo is a beautiful story for children of all ages, full of friendship and love and learning to let go.
Quetzal: Sacred Bird of the Forest
Dorothy Patent explores the many facets of this shimmering bird, from its illustrious past to its life cycle and daily existence in the wild. Accompanied by Neil Waldman’s luminous illustrations, this unique survey book examines an endangered animal that has a powerful symbolic meaning to a culture.
Abuela’s Weave
A Guatemalan story about intergenerational trust, love, and independence, this book introduces children to the culture of Guatemala through the story of a little girl selling her grandmother’s beautiful weaving at the public market. Illustrated throughout with paintings of authentic Guatemalan scenery, giving life to the country’s radiant landscape and bustling city streets.
People Of Corn: A Mayan Story
From the time they lived in jungle cities with huge stone pyramids, the Mayan people have believed that corn is the spirit of life. This story tells how the first people on earth were actually made from corn. Beginning in the present-day, this lively story explains how important corn is and has always been to the Mayan people of Central America.
Mama & Papa Have a Store
A young girl tells about a day in her family’s store and home in Guatemala City. Every day customers of many heritages—speaking Spanish, Chinese, and Mayan—come to buy cloth, buttons, and thread in colors like parrot green and mango yellow, and dozens of other items. While the girl’s parents and their friends talk about their hometown in China from where they emigrated many years ago, she and her siblings play games on the rooftop terrace, float paper boats, and make shadow puppets under the glow of flashlights. When the store closes, the girl dances to celebrate her day. Amelia Lau Carling’s thoroughly American children loved her childhood stories about Guatemala so much that she wrote them down for others.
Journey for Peace: The Story of Rigoberta Menchu
The winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, Rigoberta Menchu is a poor, uneducated Mayan woman who has helped her native people fight oppression in Guatemala and who has told the world about their suffering. Part of the Rainbow Biography series, the account is quiet, but it tells of violence and poverty and amazing courage. Beginning with Menchu’s childhood as a field laborer, her personal story is woven together with that of her Indian people and their harsh dislocation at the hands of the landowners and the brutal army. Her father was imprisoned, tortured, and finally murdered for his leadership role in the resistance; so were her mother and her brothers and sisters. Yet, like her father, she has led her people in nonviolent resistance and has given them a voice.
The Well of Sacrifice
Eveningstar Macaw lives in a glorious Mayan city in the ninth century. When the king falls ill and dies, the city begins to crumble. An evil high priest, Great Skull Zero, orders the sacrifice of those who might become king, including Eveningstar’s beloved brother. As Eveningstar attempts to stop the sacrifice and to save her brother, Eveningstar becomes an enemy of the High Priest. The Priest attempts to send her into the well of sacrifice, and Eveningstar must find a way not only to save her own life but to rescue her family and her city from the tyrannical grasp of Great Skull Zero.
A Guatemalan Family
The Mendez family are Mayan Indians who made a dangerous escape to flee the civil war in their native Guatemala.