From: Ginny Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 16:56:00 -600

Last evening approximately 20 of us (Madison school district teachers from all levels and UW-Madison students & staff) spent more than three hours in lively discussion of 13 of the approximately 70 books eligible for the 1997 Americas Award and Commended List. We divided into two groups for most of the evening. Although we appreciated many of the books we discussed for various reasons, the whole group agreed that the following books are outstanding: Winner:
     Going Home by Eve Bunting with illustrations by David Diaz
(HarperCollins, 1996). We especially appreciated Diaz' exceptional illustrations for this picture book. Honor Books:
     1) In My Family = En Mi Familia with paintings and stories about her childhood in Texas by Carmen Lomas Garza and a bilingual text
(Children's Book Press, 1996); and
     2) So Loud a Silence by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins (Lodestar, 1996) a Y.A. novel set in contemporary Columbia.
     Other books appreciated in the discussion group in which I participated were:
     a) Confetti: Poems for Children written by Pat Mora & illus. by Enrique O. Sanchez (Lee & Low, 1996);
     b) Golden Tales: Myths, Legends, and Folktales from Latin America retold & illus. by Lulu Delacre (Scholastic, 1996);
     c) Jade and Iron: Latin American Tales from Two Cultures translated by Hugh Hazelton, edited by Patricia Aldana & illus. by Luis Garay (Groundwood, 1996);
     d) Life around the Lake with text and photographs by Maricel E. Presilla & Gloria Soto (Henry Holt, 1996); and
     e) Prietita and the Ghost Woman = Prietita y la Llorona retold by Gloria Anzaldua & illus. by Christina Gonzalez (Children's Book Press, 1996).
     This April will mark the fourth annual announcement of the Americas Award and Commended List. Initiated and supported by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP), "the award is given in recognition of a U.S. work (picture books, poetry, fiction, folkore) published in the previous year in English or Spanish which authentically and engagingly presents the experience of individuals in Latin America or the Caribbean, or of Latinos in the U.S.A. By combining both and linking the Americas, the award reaches beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural hertiages withing the hemisphere. The award winners and commended books are selected for their quality of story, cultural authenticity & sensitivity, and potential for classroom use." A jury of five specialists selects the award winner and commended list. The award is coordinated by Julie Kline, CLASP Committee on Teaching and Outreach, Center for Latin America, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (cla at csd.uwm.edu).
     My CCBC colleagues and I are so grateful to Julie Kline (CLASP) for continuing communication and leadership regarding the discussion evening and prior MMSD workshop preparation. We are also grateful to Madge Klais who represented the Madison Metropolitan School District in the shared effort to provide books for and gather interested teachers, library media specialists & other MMSD staff to meet with campus participants for an evening of discussion and analysis of books with Latino themes and topics. Look for these books, only a few of the 70 or so such books published in the U.S. during 1996 and look for the 1997 Americas Award & Commended List announcement sometime in April. Sincerely, Ginny
********************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Wed 26 Feb 1997 04:56:00 PM CST