Tag Archives: Latinx traditions

Oct 15 2021

Cover Reveal: Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition by Cindy L. Rodriguez, illustrated by Begoña Fernández Corbalán

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Today, we’re excited to host the cover reveal for Cindy L. Rodriguez’s debut picture book, Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition, which will be published by Cardinal Rule press on July 1, 2022.

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First, here’s a description of the book:

Beto won’t wear a guayabera to the wedding. Nope! Nunca! Not going to happen! Beto tries his best to rid himself of the traditional Mexican wedding shirt his Mami gave him. He even gets help from his dog Lupe, but the shirt ends up back on his bed each time with notes from Mami, who becomes increasingly frustrated with Beto. Mami insists that Beto attend the wedding, and wear the shirt, because—after all—it’s her wedding! Beto has to accept the fact that Mami is getting remarried and that she wants him to wear the shirt, which is part of his heritage.

Three Pockets Full by Cindy L. Rodriguez carries key concepts of family, love, and tradition and explores change and new experiences. This book comes with a Reader’s Guide for children, a free download from the publisher website. Lesson plans, activities, and discussion questions allow parents, teachers, and caregivers to explore the topics further and deepen comprehension.

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Now, here is some information about the creators:

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Cindy L. Rodriguez is the author of the YA novel When Reason Breaks and has contributed to the anthology Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles. She has also written the text for three Jake Maddox books: Volleyball Ace, Drill Team Determination, and Gymnastics Payback. Upcoming titles include Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition and The Doomed Search for the Lost City of Z. Before becoming a teacher in 2000, she was an award-winning reporter for The Hartford Courant and a researcher for The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team. She is a founder of Latinxs in Kid Lit, a blog that celebrates children’s literature by/for/about Latinxs. Cindy is currently a middle school reading specialist in Connecticut, where she lives with her family.

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Begoña Fernández Corbalán was born and raised in a small town in Spain. As a child she loved to draw, so when she grew up she knew that she wanted to get a degree in Fine Arts. After finishing her degree, she specialized in illustration, and since then has dedicated herself to it. In her free time she likes to sit in the sun in the garden and observe how the light changes at different times of the day, something that she tries to reflect in her work. She has worked with techniques such as watercolor, gouache and colored pencil, but she sticks to digital illustration because of the great advantages it offers when working.

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And, here are some comments from the author about the seeing the artwork:

I’m in love with the cover that Begoña created! I especially love that the reader can see a wedding ring in each of the pockets and the picture in the third. These important items play a role in the story, so–here goes my teacher brain kicking in–educators and parents can ask young readers to look at these details on the cover and make predictions about what the story will be about. I also love the dog, Lupe, who takes part in the action of story. Quite honestly, Lupe kind of steals the show in Begoña’s interior illustrations, and, as a dog lover, I am entirely fine with that!

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Finally, here is the cover of Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition:

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Ta-da!

ISN’T IT GORGEOUS?!

Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition is now available for pre-order. Click on any of the title links in this post to go to Indiebound.org.

Mar 21 2019

Book Review: The Piñata that the Farm Maiden Hung by Samantha R. Vamos, illus. by Sebastià Serra

 

Review by Dora M. Guzmán

DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: A band of helpful animals joins the farm maiden, a farmer, and a boy in order to make a piñata from scratch and decorate the plaza. But then everyone falls asleep in the warm afternoon sun…

…and no one fills the pinata that the farm maiden hung.

How will they finish in time for the party? And who is the party for?

This bilingual story borrows the familiar structure of “The House that Jack Built” and is a companion title to The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book.

MY TWO CENTS: This is a must-have addition to your classroom library and curriculum! It highlights the significance and collaboration in Latinx celebrations, traditions, and community. I am infatuated with this book’s integration of culture and overall style in a familiar story structure from the first book, The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred. The farm maiden and her community members, who include the boy, horse, cat, goose, farmer, and sheep, all partake in sharing their contribution to make the centerpiece of the celebration. In this case, the centerpiece is the piñata. There are other essential pieces to complete the celebration like alebrijes, cascarones, and papel picado. The author does not explicitly tell the reader who this party is for or why, but the characters are enthusiastically working together to get it right!

The author and illustrator, however, give readers a clue into this celebration by placing on the first page a young girl in her room who then walks outside, with the remaining characters peeking out of the house. This is a great stopping point for inferring and predicting before the story begins!

The deliberate shading and bold layers of color accentuate character features and the beauty in the environment as the characters are preparing for a celebration. Throughout the story line, words in Spanish are emphasized in bold print and their definitions are included at the end of the book. Cultural representations include alebrijes (wood carvings), cascarones (confetti in eggshells), and papel picado (tissue paper flags). Characters also share humor and collaboration as they work together to make this moment as special as they can, even when they all take a nap and forget to fill the piñata! No worries, because as they say “Teamwork makes the dream work,” and a dream it sure was! The birthday girl walks in and is surprised by the beautiful, thoughtful setup, but most of all there is an intricate and colorful piñata! The story ends at it should whenever a piñata is in the story- time to hit and break it! Readers are invited to sing along in Spanish and English to La Canción de la Piñata/ The Piñata Song, one that is reminiscent in many Latinx childhood memories.

Overall, I am forever grateful for this, a book that authentically reflects a Latinx culture. While there was an absence of food, except for the cake, it highlighted other parts of the celebration that are just as important. The words in this book brought life to Spanish vocabulary words and to the illustrations that married with the theme of collaboration, teamwork, and love for special moments like birthdays. Most of all, it solidifies the symbolic meaning of the piñata, which is an experience that is meant to be shared with those who bring you joy and happiness.

TEACHING TIPS: Many of these teaching moments can be implemented in a grades K-5 setting, with a focus on the primary grades.

  • The repetitive nature in the text is perfect for reader participation and engagement in read alouds, especially in the early grade levels.
  • Readers can develop their inferring abilities, especially with the illustrations.
  • Focus on building vocabulary, not only focusing on the Spanish words that are introduced but also on verbs and descriptive language.
  • Readers can be invited to learn more about other traditions, centerpieces, and components that are essential in other cultural celebrations.
  • Students can learn to make a piñata!
    • Included at the end of a book, is a step-by-step guide to make a piñata. This pairs well with a lesson on reading the procedural text.
  • This book can also be combined in a unit to compare and contrast story lines and characters. Books in this unit can include The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, as well as other stories similar to The House that Jack Built. Students can also be invited to write their own story that follows this structure.

 

Image result for samantha r vamosABOUT THE AUTHOR: Samantha R. Vamos is the author of the companion title for this book, The Cazeula That the Farm Maiden Stirred, a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book. She also wrote Alphabet Boats, Alphabet Trains, and Alphabet Trucks. She lives with her family in California.

Listen to Samantha R. Vamos talk about this book, The Piñata That the Farm Maiden Hung, on her publisher’s podcast.

Link: (https://charlesbridge.blogspot.com/2019/01/charlesbridge-unplugged-19-samantha.html)

 

 

Image result for Sebastiá SerraABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR: Sebastià Serra is an award-winning artist who has illustrated more than 70 children’s books in Spain, Italy, France, UK, Portugal, Taiwan, Brazil, and the United States. Also, he has worked as a graphic designer for several television shows, family theatre, and many museums and cultural institutions. He lives in Barcelona, Spain.

 

 

 

 

img_0160ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Dora M. Guzmán is a bilingual reading specialist for grades K-3 and also teaches an undergraduate college course in Children’s Literature. When she is not sharing her love of reading with her students, you can find her in the nearest library, bookstore, or online, finding more great reads to add to her never ending “to read” pile