Cuba

The Red Umbrella

The Red Umbrellais the moving tale of a 14-year-old girl’s journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan-an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro’s revolution. In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucecita Aacute lvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched. As the revolution’s impact becomes more oppressive, Lucecita’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States-on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucecita struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will sheeve see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?   The Red Umbrellas a moving story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home.

Muu, Moo!: Rimas de animales/Animal Nursery Rhymes (Spanish Edition)

This bilingual collection of traditional animal nursery rhymes from Spain, Latin America, and the United States is sure to delight readers young and old. Includes 17 poems handpicked by Ada and Campoy, along with five of their own original poems.

La Moneda De Oro

La moneda de oro es un cuento de Literatura infantil que narra aventuras sobre chicos de dicha edad, a través de los cuales los chicos se sentiran identificados y fomentarán su animación a la lectura.

The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle’s Wedding

Rooster, en route to his uncle’s wedding, struggles with the dilemma of whether he should risk of getting dirty in order to obtain a kernel of corn. His hunger overcomes his better judgment and, of course, he winds up “. . . with a beak full of mud.” This leads into a cumulative tale that will be familiar to anyone who knows “The Old Woman and Her Pig” or any number of its variants. In this case, his quest to get clean is nicely circular: the sun, just coming up as the book begins, is the one who agrees to break the chain of refusal, to repay the rooster for greeting him each morning.

Join the discussion of The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle’s Wedding as well as other books set in Cuba on our My Take/Your Take page.

Raining Sardines

Wealthy landowner Don Rigol practically owns the town. To expand his coffee plantation, he will lay waste the mountain jungle and the secret valley where the ancient breed of Paso Fino horses roams wild. Best friends Enriquito and Ernestina search for a way to save the ponies, ensure justice at a trumped-up trial, and reclaim the mountain for their people. Magical realism

The Firefly Letters

A stunning novel in verse by a Newbery Honor-winning author paints a portrait of early women’s right pioneer Frederika Bremer and the journey to Cuba that transformed her life.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 1

Under The Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba

In this companion volume to Alma Flor Ada’s Where the Flame Trees Bloom, the author offers young readers another inspiring collection of stories and reminiscences drawn from her childhood on the island of Cuba. Through those stories we see how the many events and relationships she enjoyed helped shape who she is today. We learn of a deep friendship with a beloved dance teacher that helped sustain young Alma Flor through a miserable year in school. We meet relatives, like her mysterious Uncle Manolo, whose secret, she later learns, is that he dedicated his life to healing lepers. We share the tragedy of another uncle whose spirited personality leads to his love of flying…and the crash that takes his life. Heartwarming, poignant, and often humorous, this collection encourages children to discover the stories in their our own lives — stories that can help inform their own values and celebrate the joys and struggles we all share no matter where or when we grew up.

Join the discussion of Under the Royal Palms as well as other books by Alma Flor Ada in Margarita Engle on our My Take/Your Take page.

Martina Una Cucarachita Muy Linda / Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: Un Cuento Cubano / A Cuban Folktale

Carmen Agra Deedy delivers this retelling of the Cuban folkltale. Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn’t know coffee beans about love and marriage. That’s where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her really useful advice.

Fitting In

Written with deep understanding and compassion, these are the bittersweet tales of young Cuban immgrants adjusting to life in the United States as they cross the threshold into young womanhood.

I’m Just Like My Mom; I’m Just Like My Dad/ Me parezco tanto a mi mama; Me parez

I’m just like my mom.
Me parezco tanto a mi mamá.

I’m just like my dad.
Me parezco tanto a mi papá.

With Akemi Gutiérrez’s charming illustrations, renowned journalist Jorge Ramos explores the many ways in which all children are just like their parents—in two languages!

Junto con las simpáticas ilustraciones de Akemi Gutiérrez, el respetado periodista Jorge Ramos explora las varias maneras en que los hijos se parecen a sus padres. ¡Y lo hace en dos idiomas!