Every spring, Lilia Garcia had to leave school early to go north with her family to pick fruits and vegetables. She was too young to work in the fields with the rest of the family, so her mother and teenage brother would sign her up to attend the local school. She was the only Spanish-speaking child at Coloma Elementary, and that, combined with the fact that it was late in the school year, made it difficult to make friends and keep up with the work.
Welcome to the family! It’s just like yours: father, mother, sister, brother, abuelita, gato, even a great-great grandmother. Well, but there’s something just a little bit different about this particular family.
We unite children from the rural coffee-growing region of San Ramon, Nicaragua with their counterparts in Montpelier, Vermont. This workshop took place during the 2009-2010 school year, when Kids Share Workshops and Publishing Inc. traveled to a remote Nicaraguan cloud forest (that’s right, a cloud forest!), where a small community of coffee growers lives and works.
The theft of all the lemons from her lemon tree leads Rosalinda to an encounter with la Anciana, the Old One, who walks the Mexican countryside helping things grow, and to an understanding of generosity and forgiveness.
A young man realizes his dream by listening to the voice of nature.
Twenty-five poems about the pleasures and woes that Mexican American children experience growing up. Simple poems, many involving Mexican Americans, celebrate experiences at school, home, and in the street. A companion to Neighborhood Odes, (1992). Touching, vibrant, and humorous, this lively collection of poems accompanied by beautiful illustrations celebrates childhood and the Mexican American experience. Invoking ordinary domestic and community incidents, it’ a fine introduction not only to poetry but to Chicano culture. Nelson debuts with scenes–homey, comfortable, bright–that make the book even more accessible.
Growing up Latino in America means speaking two languages, living two lives, learning the rules of two cultures. Cool Salsa celebrates the tones, rhythms, sounds, and experiences of that double life. Here are poems about families and parties, insults and sad memories, hot dogs and mangos, the sweet syllables of Spanish and the snag-toothed traps of English. Here is the glory, and pain, of being Latino American.Latino Americans hail from Cuba and California, Mexico and Michigan, Nicaragua and New York, and editor Lori M. Carlson has made sure to capture all of those accents. With poets such as Sandra Cisneros, Martiacute;n Espada, Gary Soto, and Ed Vega, and a very personal introduction by Oscar Hijuelos, this collection encompasses the voices of Latino America. By selecting poems about the experiences of teenagers, Carlson has given a focus to that rich diversity; by presenting the poems both in their original language and in translation, she has made them available to us all.As you move from memories of red wagons, to dreams of orange trees, to fights with street gangs, you feel Cool Salsa’s musical and emotional cross rhythms. Here is a world of exciting poetry for you, y tuacute; tambieacute;n.
Pepita, a little girl who can converse in Spanish and English, decides not to “speak twice” until unanticipated problems cause her to think twice about her decision.
Presents a humorous introduction to Spanish words through illustrations and rhyming text.
The barnyard animals on Old MacDonald’s and Senor Pancho’s farms have a hard time communicating. MacDonald’s rooster says cock-a-doodle-doo! While Senor Pancho’s gallo says quiquirquí. The English-speaking chick says peep, peep, but el pollito says pio, pio. Then the cow says moo and la vaca says mu! Maybe they’re not so different after all! So all the animals come together for a barnyard fiesta, because dancing is a universal language.