¡Hola a todos! I hope everyone enjoys this week’s readings as much as I enjoyed gathering them. 😊
– In case you wondered how important nature is in Latin America, check out these 6 Indigenous struggles that need to be talked about during earth day.
— When teaching about immigration, you might appreciate Beacon and Broadside’s reasons for Why Myths About Immigrants and Immigration Are Still with Us Today.
– La Bloga shared great news! Lil’ Libros baby board books now have Latin American culture, historic figures, and more. These board books have figures like Cantiflas, Selena, and even popular short stories like “un elefante.”
— You can learn more about the importance of having stories available in Spanish via this Lee & Low interview with David Bowles and Guadalupe García Mccall as they discuss their experience translating Summer of the Mariposas.
– Remezcla shared 6 books Sandra Cisneros turns to during tough times. I have personally read An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and all I can say is that this book will definitely help you get through tough times!
— Continuing the theme of Earth Day, De Colores reviewed Arriba, Abajo y Alrededor / Up, Down, and Around and Nuestro Huerto: De la semilla a la cosecha en el huerto del colegio /It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garde. Both books are recommended, and both are great for themes about food, agriculture, culture, and nature.
– Latinxs in Kid Lit recommend the book US, In Progress: Short Stories About Young Latinos by Lulu Delacre– a Pura Belpré Award honoree author. According to the reviewer, the book “in the hands of kids is an exciting prospect. Individually, you could delve into each character’s story, reveling in the rich development of character, place, and voice.”
— Talking about identity and representation can be complex but here is a way to get out of the margins. The post stresses that “from the outside, it probably seems a self-evident choice when an author from a marginalized group chooses to write a protagonist that shares their lived experience. If ‘write what you know’ is sound advice, then choosing to speak from a personal and underrepresented point of view would seem obvious. But for me and many other ‘own voices’ writers, the decision was not obvious at all.”
–This is the reason why world book day is celebrated on April 23rd according to America Reads Spanish
– From Gathering Books, here is more proof of how reading can impact one’s soul. Follow along on the writer’s exploration through her post on “My Literary Journey Has Taken Me to Uruguay’s Galeano.” She writes that “Reading Galeano was like being given this hearty meal of beef pochero complete with chorizo, after being fed a steady diet of cotton candy or french fries. This, right here, is simply the real deal. Given the current state of the world today, with so many lunatics in positions of power, Galeano’s words filled me, providing me with the energy, clarity, and sustenance required to continue fighting the good fight. Find him. Read him.”
— Finally, Jacqueline Woodson’s upcoming book is a moving letter to kids who feel alone. Woodson confesses that “My mom used to tell us there’d be moments when we walked into a room and no one there was like us. I’ve walked into those rooms many times during my childhood and beyond so I had the sense that this was true of most people and began writing the story.”
Abrazos,
Alin Badillo
Image: Soccer Match. Reprinted from Flickr user Joint Task Force under CC©.
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