Amparo Jacqueline Ochoa, Untitled, Oil on Canvas, 2005

Children's Bibliography

In celebration of Latino Heritage Month, the Department of Cultural Affairs presents the following reading selections for elementary and middle school readers.

Complied by Gabriel Cifarelli and Shannon Foshe

Elementary

Alma Flor Ada
I Love Saturdays y Domingos
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Elivia Savadier (Illustrator)

Saturdays and Sundays are very special days for the child in this story. On Saturdays she visits Grandma and Grandpa, who come from a European- American background, and on Sundays - los domingos - she visits Abuelito y Abuelita, who are Mexican-American. While the two sets of grandparents are different in many ways, they also have a great deal in common - in particular, their love for their granddaughter. While we follow our narrator to the circus and the pier, share stories from her grandparents' past, and celebrate her birthday, the depth and joy of both cultures are conveyed in Spanish and English. This affi rmation of both heritages will speak to all children who want to know more about their own families and their ethnic backgrounds.

Max Benavidez & Katherine Del Monte
A New Sun
Publisher: Latino Literacy Press
Jose Ramirez (Illustrator)

This beautifully illustrated book includes text in both English and Spanish and a vocabulary list in the back. The book's story reassures its young readers that, in spite of cultural differences, there are still things people have in common no matter what their culture.

Robert Palacios San Toribio Romo, Acrylic on Board, 2007

Diane Gonzales Bertrand
Sip, Slurp, Soup, Soup, Caldo, Caldo, Caldo
Publisher: Piñata Books
Alex Pardo DeLange (Illustrator)

A rhythmic text with repetitive phrases relates how the children watch Mamá as she makes soup (recipe included). Although Mamá stands as an expert on the creation of a delicious soup/caldo that represents the ultimate in comfort food (it stops sniffl es, cures stomach aches, tired feet, or backaches!), the whole family participates and appreciates. Papá takes the children to buy tortillas, and the whole event turns into a fiesta. The book is excellent for children in families that know the importance of bilingual skills and for those families that know the importance of togetherness.

Edith Hope Fine
Under the Lemon Moon
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Rene King Moreno (Illustrator)

One night, young Rosalinda wakes up to a "Wsss-- shhh--snap!" outside. She slips out of bed and peers out the front door into the darkness. Way back by the lemon tree, something is moving. It's a man stuffing lemons from Rosalind's lemon tree into a cloth sack! To make matters worse, by the end of the week her lemon tree is very sick. As she wanders through the Mexican countryside seeking tree-healing advice, she sees the mysterious Night Man at the Mercado - and he is selling her beautiful limones! She summons the help of La Anciana, a wise old woman with gentle eyes, who fi nally provides a creative solution. This simple tale of human compassion will appeal to young children on many levels.

Carmen Lomas Garza
Cuadros de Familia / Family Pictures
Publisher: Children’s Book Press

An inspired celebration of American cultural diversity in English and Spanish. Lomas Garza presents a charming series of paintings while relating remembrances of her childhood in Kingsville, Texas, near the Mexican border. The brilliantly colored images teem with life and exude the glow of nostalgia. Lomas Garza's vignettes are similar in their primitive folk style to those of Grandma Moses. Whether it's the family eating watermelon on the porch, or Grandfather taking a skinned rabbit into the kitchen for dinner, each moment is fully captured in all its freshness and immediacy. The vibrant, canvas- like illustrations, accentuated with papel picado - images on the text pages - evoke powerful feelings of Garza's love for family and community despite the hardships she encountered while growing up.

Kathleen Krull
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books
Yuyi Morales (Illustrator)

When Cesar Chavez was ten years old, drought forced his family to leave its Arizona ranch and move to California. The family became migrant workers, poorly paid and badly treated. As an adult, Chavez organized a nonviolent revolt, culminating in a 300-mile protest march that produced the fi rst farm workers' contract.

Amanda Irma Perez
My Diary from Here to There / Mi Diario De Aqui Hasta Alla
Publisher: Children’s Book Press
Maya Christina Gonzalez (Illustrator)

In her first diary entry, Amada is anxious about her family's move from Juarez, Mexico, to Los Angeles. Despite her father's assurances, she worries that they will never return to Juarez, that she won't be able to learn English, and that he will have problems fi nding work. Amada records their travels, their stay with relatives in Mexicali, the eventual journey to Los Angeles, and the joyful reunion with their father. Told consistently through the eyes and feelings of a child, the narrative successfully telescopes the family odyssey.

Margarita Robleda
Paco : Un Niño Latino en Estados Unidos / Paco, A Latino Boy in the United States
Publisher: Alfaguara / Santillana
Danilo Ramírez (Illustrator)

Paco, a ten-year-old boy, born into a Latino family that recently migrated to the USA, writes his autobiography to comply with a school assignment. He tells us about his homesickness and his fears, but he also speaks of his happiness and optimism. Paco's story, his refreshingly direct style, and his humor-filled thoughts pay tribute to a culture distinguished by imagination, sensitivity, drive to succeed, ability to dream, and courage to face new challenges. Readers both big and small will doubtlessly be able to identify with Paco and his story.

Luis Rodriguez
It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way: A Barrio Story
Publisher: Children’s Book Press
Daniel Galvez (Illustrator)

Luis Rodriguez, author of both adult and children's books, wrote It Doesn't Have To Be This Way about a young boy's encounter with the world of gangs - a world that the author knows fi rsthand. Through his mesmerizing true-to-life story and the dynamic illustrations of artist Galvez, we see how Monchi is both attracted to the community of gang life and repelled by its violence. There is no easy answer to his dilemma, but the love and respect of his Uncle Rogelio help him find a way out.

Harriet Rohmer
El Sombrero del Tío Nacho / Uncle Nacho’s Hat
Publisher: Children’s Book Press
Mira Reisberg (Illustrator)

These two folktales, with text in Spanish and English, bring important glimpses of other cultures to American children. The Uncle Nacho story originated in Nicaragua; the other came to Nicaragua from Africa by way of Jamaica. In the fi rst, Nacho is attached to his old hat, even though it is full of holes. When his niece Ambrosia gives him a new one, he's pleased but skeptical. He reluctantly puts the ragged hat in the trash, but thanks to well-meaning relatives and friends, the hat keeps returning to Nacho. Finally he realizes it's time to push himself to modify his style, in a clever and involving lesson in acceptance of change. In the second story, Brother Anansi is "the spider," a standard folk hero known for his devious nature. In this book, Anansi outsmarts a tiger who is twice his size. The tiger has won the lottery and Anansi is bound to end up a winner himself. Anansi ends up a cattle rancher in a charming victory of brainpower over brawn.

Gary Soto
Canto Familiar
Publisher: Hartcourt Brace and Company
Annika Nelson (Illustrator)

Soto is a well-known poet, essayist, and novelist. Canto Familiar is a collection of poems or "familiar songs" about things we all experience in childhood. For example, there are songs about warming oneself in front of a furnace on a cold day, washing the dishes, and playing with the cat. These songs, familiar to Mexican American children and adults, will resonate with all Americans.

Maite Suarez-Rivas
Latino Read-Aloud Stories
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal

This book offers an exceptional sampling of Latin American literature ranging from pre-Columbian legends, folktales, poetry, and riddles, to biographies and excerpts of work by renowned contemporary authors such as Isabel Allende and Rudolfo Anaya. The most exciting and charming Latino legends, characters, and real-life heroes come to life in these tales, carefully selected to be read aloud in ten minutes or less. Biographies of famous Latinos and excerpts from famous novelists will give children of all backgrounds an understanding of the Latino culture. All the stories are related in both English and Spanish, making them accessible to multilingual or ESL kids.

Rosalma Zubizarreta
La Mujer que Brillaba Aún más que el Sol / The Woman Who Outshone the Sun
Publisher: Children’s Book Press

Lucia Zenteno is a mythic character, a woman of great beauty who is perfectly in tune with nature. She is indeed larger than life, and though beloved by the creatures of the countryside, she becomes the target of human hatred and fear and is driven out of her village because she is different. It is only as nature mourns and the river leaves with her that the people realize that they need her. More beautiful than the sun, loved by the whole of nature, purveyor of quiet goodwill, Lucia Zenteno is a part of the storytelling tradition of Mexico's Zapotec Indians. In this English-Spanish retelling, Lucia's fate at the hands of unkind strangers is captured in artwork glowing with color and vitality. When the dazzling girl arrives in a village, it is no surprise that the river falls in love with her, rising "from its bed. to fl ow through her shining black hair."

Middle School

Rudolfo Anaya
Bless Me, Ultima
Publisher: Warner Books

Besides winning the Premio Quinto Sol National Chicano Literary Award, this novel of a young boy in New Mexico in the 1940s has sold more than 300,000 copies in paperback since its 1973 debut. Set in a small village in New Mexico, this coming-of-age story is told from the Hispanic perspective. Antonio is torn between his father's cowboy side of the family who ride on the plains, and his mother's village and farming relations. Antonio's life is forever altered when his Aunt Ultima, a curandera (healer), comes to live with the family. She teaches Antonio many things, most importantly, how to gather the self- knowledge that will help carry him into adulthood.

Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza Rising
Publisher: Blue Sky Press

Ryan uses the experiences of her Mexican grandmother as the basis for this compelling story of immigration and assimilation, not only to a new country but also into a different social class. Esperanza's expectation that her 13th birthday will be celebrated with all the material pleasures and folk elements of her previous years is shattered when her father is murdered by bandits. His powerful stepbrothers then hold her mother as a social and economic hostage, wanting to force her remarriage to one of them, and go so far as to burn down the family home. Esperanza's mother then decides to join the cook and gardener and their son as they move to the United States and work in California's agricultural industry. They embark on a new way of life, away from the uncles, and Esperanza unwillingly enters a world where she is no longer a princess but a worker. Set against the multiethnic, labor-organizing era of the Depression, the story of Esperanza remaking herself is satisfyingly complete, including dire illness and a diffi cult romance.

Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
The Girl from Playa Blanca
Publisher: Arte Publico Press

In The Girl from Playa Blanca, a world of adventure greets Elena and her little brother, Carlos, once they leave their Mexican seaside village to fi nd their father, who has suddenly disappeared in the masses of immigrants attempting to make a living in Los Angeles in order to support families back home.

Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
Leticia’s Secret
Publisher: Arte Publico Press

Leticia's Secret tells an intriguing, fast-paced story for middle school readers that traces the blossoming relationship between young Rosario Silva and her enigmatic cousin Leticia, and explores the mysteries of life and death. There is defi nitely something odd about Leticia. Eleven-year-old Rosario doesn't understand why she must give up her bedroom for her cousin, who does nothing but sit around when she and her father, Uncle Felipe, visit. She wonders why the adults fawn over Leticia so much. Rosario is determined to solve the puzzle. As Rosario and Leticia begin to share more and more, from a love of reading and writing, to an exciting nighttime adventure, Rosario ultimately learns her cousin's shocking secret.