Materials from the Americas
Juan has been a thief for many years. So when he peeks through a crack in Doã Josef´s door and sees a gold coin in her hand, he immediately decides to steal her treasure. Stealing it, however, is not as easy as Juan had thought, and soon he is traveling around the countryside, trying to catch up with the old woman and her gold. But as this original tale with a Central American setting shows, there are other, human kinds of treasure waiting to be discovered.
A Peruvian legend of how the llama warned all the animals of a coming flood.
A young chief who had been protected by a hummingbird is killed by his jealous uncle and then transformed into a quetzal, symbol of freedom.
In the middle of the wide Argentine pampas there once grew a magic tree. Above this tree slept a bird so evil it could stop the rain from falling. And not far from this tree lived a brave boy who one day set out to save his village and all the creatures from dying of thirst. Illustrated with charming folk-art-like paintings and retold with simplicity and drama, this legend of a child’s courage and faith explains why Argentineans believe that good luck can be found in the shade of a carob tree.
Martin and his friends are helping their parents turn an old Brazilian coffee plantation into an inn. The children have a fun time helping to renovate the old place and they sleep in a shed that is being converted into a guest room. But one night they hear the sound of a young girl crying. Gradually, the ghost of a slave girl from the late 1800s named Rosario appears to them. Rosario tells them the story of her life and in doing so reveals the danger and instability that existed in Brazil after slavery ended. Though not the best at writing, Martin promises Rosario to record her story in the form of a book. Though the experience of slavery seems remote to Martin and his friends, by the time they\’ve heard Rosario\’s story, the evil of slavery is made painfully clear. Ana Maria Machado’s deft storytelling skills and social conscience come together in this powerfully moving book that explores the history and impact of slavery.
An alphabetical introduction to the history, geography, and culture of the Americas, using Spanish text.
Was there ever a people like the Inkas?
Using slingshots, clubs and stone-tipped spears, this small Andean tribe conquered an area spanning 2,500 miles. Without the use of the wheel, they built a vast and sophisticated network of roads. Without an alphabet, they administered a population of ten million people. With the most primitive of tools, they built cities of stone.
Machu Picchu is as astonishing as its builders. Set in a remote, inaccessible area of the high Andes, this breathtaking city was never found by the Spanish Conquistadores. It is an untouched example of the genius of the Inkas.
Machu Picchu tells the story about the rise of the Inkas and the building of this great city. Award-winning author Elizabeth Mann has become justly famous for engrossing narratives that make distant worlds comprehensible and complex engineering feats accessible. In Machu Picchu, these talents are displayed to their fullest.
Amy Crehore’s paintings convey a fabulous world that seems at once intensely real and dream-like. Her luminous pallette is an Inka tapestry unfaded by time.
Wonders of the World series
The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann’s ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.
“One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers.”
– Booklist
A bearer of doom, or a bringer of change? As the Aztec empire falls, one girl defies her destiny.In the golden city of Tenochtitlán, the people live in awe of Emperor Montezuma and in fear of blood-hungry gods. Under an ill-fated sky, a girl is born, facing a life of submission and domestic drudgery. But Itacate has a secret passion for goldwork, forbidden to women, and is forced to disguise her identity to protect herself and her family. When her city is shaken by Cortez’s invasion, Itacate challenges fate, culture, and faith by crafting golden statues — and pursuing the love of a man who should be her enemy. From the author of I AM APACHE comes a tale of clashing cultures, a rich and powerful depiction of Aztec life during the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Recetas para convertir a las niñas en ranas y a los niños en murciélagos, fórmulas para desaparecer o para convertirse en algún animal.
Pociones para volar, para leer el futuro y hasta para el amor, hacen parte de este útil manual para jóvenes aprendices de magos. Se garantiza que todo funciona? siempre y cuando las recetas se sigan al pie de la letra, sin mezclar ingredientes ni enredar las palabras mágicas.
Alexander Cold, un joven de quince años, tiene la oportunidad de hacer el viaje de su vida. Dejando atrás a su familia y a su madre enferma, Alexander Cold se embarca con su temeraria abuela, reportera de International Geographic, en una peligrosa expedición al Amazonas. Su misión y la de sus compañeros de viaje — entre otros, un célebre antropólogo, un guía local y su hija Nadia, y un doctor — es documentar al legendario Yeti del Amazonas, más conocido, como “La Bestia.”
En el mundo oculto de la impenetrable selva tropical, Alexander descubre mucho más de lo que jamás se hubiese imaginado. Con la fuerza del jaguar, el animal tótem elegido por Alexander, y el águila, la guía espiritual de Nadia, ambos jóvenes se dejan guiar por la invisible gente de la neblina en una apasionante e inolvidable aventura que los Ileva al descubrimiento de . . .
En una deslumbrante novela de aventuras, la célebre escritora, Isabel Allende, Ileva a sus lectores por el misterioso sendero, de dos búsquedas personales en un viaje épico, Deno de realismo magico, al corazon del Amazonas.