Blogs
Kirkus reviews FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
Here is our very first review of From North to South / Del Norte al Sur, our new release for the fall about a boy whose mother gets sent back to Mexico for not having the proper papers. Look for the review in the August 1st issue of Kirkus Reviews.
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH/DEL NORTE AL SUR
Author: Colato Laínez, René
Illustrator: Cepeda, Joe
Review Date: August 1, 2010
Publisher: Children's Book Press
Pages: 32
Price (Hardback): $17.95
Publication Date: September 1, 2010
ISBN (Hardback): 978-0-89239-231-5
Category: Picture Books
After his mother is deported by U.S. immigration officials, José and his father go to visit her at Centro Madres Assunta in Tijuana, where she will stay with other women and children until she gets her papers and can return. Frankly a plea for sympathy for families torn apart by immigration rules, this tender story is gently told in Spanish and English texts, together or on opposing pages. Young José recalls his day: the border traffic jam, the joy of seeing his mother, gardening and a seed game with other children in the shelter missing their parents and a final bedtime story told in the car’s backseat. The author, a Salvadoran immigrant, teaches in a bilingual school where his students often experience family separations. Cepeda’s oil paintings, full-bleed single- and double-page spreads, use bright colors and a variety of perspectives to reinforce the joyfulness of the day. A road map of the area between San Diego and Tijuana serves as endpapers. The child’s perspective makes this a particularly moving glimpse of an increasingly common experience. (Picture book. 5-9)
CBP Illustrator Stephen Von Mason Makes Waves with his Students
For children, being creative and exploring new things is a vital part of learning and growing. Children's Book Press illustrator Stephen Von Mason (Brother Anansi and the Cattle Ranch, Just Like Me, Honoring Our Ancestors) gave his 5th and 6th grade students at the Making Waves Academy in Richmond, CA the opportunity to write, illustrate, and bind their own books recently. The children started by writing a story planner, and ended up with a final book bound on rag paper with their own color illustrations.
Explaining the importance of persistence and dedication in completing a difficult project, Stephen says, "When they were finished many said, Wow...this was hard. They learned life lessons that projects like this are long and arduous and it takes hard work and focus to finish a job and come out on top."
Stephen's students also were inspired by Children's Book Press titles. He says, "Many, many students read CBP when they were younger... Mr. Sugar Came to Town, Brother Anansi, Invisible Hunters, Family Pictures, and more...CBP inspired them a great deal."
Teachers and Children's Book Press donated books to be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in each class. You can see the winning covers below.
Warm weather fun with Quinito!
Recently, we were thrilled to see Quinito, Day & Night highlighted in an issue of Teaching Young Children, a magazine designed especially for preschool teachers and published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The feature focuses on books that celebrate summer activities, like playing outdoors, swimming, and taking trips to visit relatives. It also offers some great tips on sharing stories like Quinito, Day & Night with preschool aged kids. Enjoy the feature below—and the warm summer weather!
Maya Christina Gonzalez gets lots of love in the REFORMA newsletter
All illustrators and authors create in different ways. Maya Christina Gonzalez provides insight into her creative process in an article featured recently in the REFORMA newsletter.* In this wonderful article, Maya discusses the second book that she wrote and illustrated, I Know the River Loves Me.
Américas Award Honorable Mentions
My Papa Diego and Me and I Know the River Loves Me received honorable mentions for the Américas Award. This award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction that authentically and engagingly portray Latin American, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.
Sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Program, Américas Award winners are selected for their distinctive literary quality, cultural contextualization, exceptional integration of text, illustration and design, and for potential classroom use.
The full commended list can be found at: http://www4.uwm.edu/clacs/aa/pdf/aa10final.pdf
Children and the immigration debate: A sneak peek at FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
Lately, it seems as if immigration is all over the news. Yet despite all the debate going on, the experience of children who are caught up in this issue is often overlooked.
That is, until now. The recent incident at a Washington DC-area school, in which a second grader told First Lady Michelle Obama that her mother was here illegally, has sparked quite a buzz among the talking heads in the media.
Author René Colato Laínez knows about this issue all too well. His new book with Children’s Book Press, From North to South / Del Norte al Sur, deals with the experience of family separation due to a parent's precarious immigration status. The book will be released in September of 2010.
Carmen Lomas Garza unveils new metal cutout murals in Houston this Thursday
Carmen Lomas Garza, author and artist of bestselling books like Family Pictures and Magic Windows, will be in Houston this Thursday to unveil four magnificent metal cutout murals. Details after the jump.
"Dancers/Baile" ©2009 Carmen Lomas Garza
Mark your calendars: CBP Turns 35
Children's Book Press turns 35 this year and we're planning big things for the fall. Not one but two events to celebrate our books, our many wonderful authors and artists, and, of course, YOU, our community of supporters. So save the dates, mark your calendars, and check back often as we unfold more exciting details about these programs.
Celebrating Mothers
In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, we're highlighting a very special book that celebrates mothers and families of all sorts. Antonio's Card / La tarjeta de Antonio is about a boy with same-gender parents. In the story, young Antonio wants to make a beutiful card for his mother and her partner, Leslie. But when his classmates make fun of Leslie, Antonio must choose whether—or how—to express himself and his love for his family.
When the book was published in 2004. Kirkus Reviews called it "...a first of its kind and a worthy leader." It was also Finalist in the 2005 Lamda Literary Awards. We also developed a free Teacher's Guide to help educators and their students discuss the ideas this book inspires.
So what inspired the story? Here's what the author, Rigoberto Gonzalez, had to say:
"The fact is that the nuclear family (dad, mom, kids) is only one way to define what a family is. Many of us who experienced childhood in a slightly different type of household have always known this. I myself grew up in an extended family: uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents. And when the family shrunk, it was only my two grandparents and me for many years. In either case, we were no more and no less a family. Like any other family unit we had happy times and unhappy ones as well. One of my female cousins found a partner in another woman and together they raised two wonderful boys. This family knew of others like them, not all of them were gay parents, but in every instance the couple was made up of two loving people. And sometimes, a child grows up with only one parent. This too is a reality and this also is a family. I wrote Antonio’s Card as a way to honor those families who are a little different, but no less loving and special than my own."
As we honor the special women in our lives, let's remember that, above all, love makes a family.
LET ME HELP reviewed in Kirkus
Here's another great review of Let Me Help! / ¡Quiero ayudar! from the April 15th issue of Kirkus Reviews. Thanks for making the book sound like such a fun read-aloud, especially with Cinco de Mayo just around the corner!
"Like a young child eager to help, Perico, the parrot, is excited about the upcoming Cinco de Mayo preparations and repeatedly cries, 'Let me help! / ¡Quiero ayudar!'—a phrase learned from his family’s youngest child, Martita. So whatever the activity—as Abuela and Tía Lupe make tamales, Elena and mother fashion paper flowers, Lupita and Carmen prepare for the folklórico dance, Antonio and Francisco practice their mariachi piece and Don Martín bakes pan dulce—Perico’s offer to help is either ignored or actively rebuffed by the very busy family. What can a parrot really do to help? Once the celebration begins, Perico flies across the city watching the festivities, and when his family’s extravagantly decorated barge loses its top-most decoration as it passes under the bridge, Perico perches on top with wings spread wide to replace the fallen flowers as the barge continues elegantly down the river. Domínguez’s vigorous paint strokes in bold aquas, greens and blues that stand out against the dusty backdrop vibrantly complement this bilingually told story about the Latino fiesta. (Picture book. 4-6)"
