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In Xochitl and the Flowers
/ Xóchitl, la Niña de las Flores, we meet
a young Salvadoran girl and her family, immigrants who are
determined to become an integral part of their new community.
The story of how they do so, overcoming many obstacles in
the process, illustrates both the challenges and the triumphs
of many new immigrants to the United States. Along the way,
Xochitl (pronounced ZO-cheel) and other members of the Flores
family learn that making a home involves making friends,
working together, and nurturing beauty wherever you find
it.
Author Jorge Argueta and illustrator Carl Angel present
the story of a family setting down roots in a new community
and growing together with their friends and neighbors. Xochitl
and the Flowers is based on the true story of a
Salvadoran woman's struggle to set up a nursery in the Mission
District of San Francisco. Her success was due to a combination
of determination, hard work, and advocacy from neighborhood
allies. These key ingredients are at the heart of the Flores
family's story.
As students read Xochitl and the Flowers,
they will make connections to their own experiences immigrating
or moving to a new community, making friends, and fighting
for what they know is right. Along the way, they will have
opportunities to learn about local businesses in their own
community; the math of small business enterprises; village
life in El Salvador; and, of course, the beauty and biology
of flowers.
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Salvadoran American
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Communities:
neighborhoods; family and friendship; shared problem solving
Immigration:
cultural roots; language; advocacy and immigrant rights
Local Economies:
occupations and careers; barter and trade; economic interdependence
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Jorge Argueta
is a celebrated Salvadoran poet who has written
and participated in over fourteen books and
anthologies. His first book for Children's Book
Press, A Movie in My Pillow, received
the Américas Award for Latin American Juvenile
Literature, as well as a Skipping Stones Honor
Award, and an IPPY Award. He is a three-time
winner of the San Francisco Biannual Poetry
Award, and he is also a 2002 San Francisco Library
Laureate.
Xochitl and the Flowers / Xóchitl,
la Niña de las Flores is based on actual
events that took place in Jorge's own neighborhood
in San Francisco. Like the family in the story,
Jorge himself immigrated to the United States
at age 19 to escape the violent conflict raging
in his homeland. Since his arrival in the Bay
Area, he has engaged in significant social and
political work. Through poetry, lectures, and
activism, he has eased the transition for other
Central American immigrants. He has worked to
promote literacy and cultural understanding
in homeless shelters and public schools for
over ten years. Jorge lives in San Francisco
with his partner, fellow poet Teresa Kennett,
and teenage daughter, Luna. |
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Carl Angel is a painter and illustrator
whose work is exhibited in galleries and museums
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Carl's
exhibitions are usually based on a theme, such
as Filipino mythology, racism in America, religion
and spirituality in Oakland, or the Philippine-American
War. In addition to Xochitl and the Flowers,
Carl is also the illustrator of Lakas and
the Manilatown Fish (also published by Children's
Book Press), Mga Kuwentong Bayan: Folk Stories
from the Philippines, and Willie Wins.
He has also contributed to the anthology Honoring
Our Ancestors (published by Children's Book
Press), and was the designer for the anthology
of new Filipino American writing entitled Seven
Card Stud and Seven Manangs Wild.
As an artist, Carl's focus is on storytelling,
symbolism, and its relationship to the human
condition, both social and spiritual. He says
his first objective as an illustrator "is to
serve the writer's vision, and capture the spirit
of the narrative." For Xochitl and the
Flowers, he worked closely with the
author and based many of the characters on residents
of San Francisco's Mission District. The title
character, for example, was modeled after Jorge's
daughter, Luna. Carl lives in Oakland, California.
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Our thanks to the Irwin Home Equity Foundation for their
support in the production of this Teacher's Guide.
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