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Hispanic books
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From: Angelica Carpenter <angelica>
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 11:04:17 -0800
Recently I moved from Florida to California, from one major market to another for children's books with Hispanic themes. Looking for local authors in my new area, I learned of Juan Felipe Herrera, who lives in Fresno and teaches on this campus. I hope to meet him soon. His wonderful Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas (Children's Book Press, 1995), with its beautiful illustrations by Elly Simmons, pleased me for many reasons. It describes the life of migrant farmworkers in the central California valley, from a child's point of view.
My drive to work takes me by vineyards and orchards where people are working. This book depicts a way of living that I see every day but will never experience firsthand. I took Calling the Doves home to my husband, just to show him this beautiful book about where we live. He is studying Spanish, was delighted to discover the text in both English and Spanish, and read the Spanish version aloud, just to practice. Finally, on a personal level, the book was especially moving to me because the father calls doves. My mother used to coo to doves in Florida in the same way. I guess these marketers, chain store selectors and others who think Hispanic books will not appeal to Anglos, etc., would say that my mother cooed in English and the father cooed in Spanish, but I'll bet the doves wouldn't know the difference. Like the other prize-winning titles discussed this week, the book is full of sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and feelings that appeal to all readers, those familiar with the subject matter or those who enjoy new experiences vicariously.
I agree that prejudice against Spanish speakers is a major reason why there are not more books like this. I experienced a lot of this hostility in South Florida. And to end this rambling discourse, in a previous life, I used to teach French. At the end of the school year, my students often thanked me for teaching them the parts of speech, something they had not learned in their English classes. This knowledge helped them with English, they assured me, and they seemed surprised by the fact.
Wishing everyone a happy, multicultural St. Patrick's Day,
Angelica Carpenter, Curator Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature Henry Madden Library California State University, Fresno 5200 N. Barton Ave., M/S-ML 34 Fresno, CA 93740?14
Phone 559 278?16 Fax 559 278i52 Email angelica at csufresno.edu
Received on Fri 17 Mar 2000 01:04:17 PM CST
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 11:04:17 -0800
Recently I moved from Florida to California, from one major market to another for children's books with Hispanic themes. Looking for local authors in my new area, I learned of Juan Felipe Herrera, who lives in Fresno and teaches on this campus. I hope to meet him soon. His wonderful Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas (Children's Book Press, 1995), with its beautiful illustrations by Elly Simmons, pleased me for many reasons. It describes the life of migrant farmworkers in the central California valley, from a child's point of view.
My drive to work takes me by vineyards and orchards where people are working. This book depicts a way of living that I see every day but will never experience firsthand. I took Calling the Doves home to my husband, just to show him this beautiful book about where we live. He is studying Spanish, was delighted to discover the text in both English and Spanish, and read the Spanish version aloud, just to practice. Finally, on a personal level, the book was especially moving to me because the father calls doves. My mother used to coo to doves in Florida in the same way. I guess these marketers, chain store selectors and others who think Hispanic books will not appeal to Anglos, etc., would say that my mother cooed in English and the father cooed in Spanish, but I'll bet the doves wouldn't know the difference. Like the other prize-winning titles discussed this week, the book is full of sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and feelings that appeal to all readers, those familiar with the subject matter or those who enjoy new experiences vicariously.
I agree that prejudice against Spanish speakers is a major reason why there are not more books like this. I experienced a lot of this hostility in South Florida. And to end this rambling discourse, in a previous life, I used to teach French. At the end of the school year, my students often thanked me for teaching them the parts of speech, something they had not learned in their English classes. This knowledge helped them with English, they assured me, and they seemed surprised by the fact.
Wishing everyone a happy, multicultural St. Patrick's Day,
Angelica Carpenter, Curator Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature Henry Madden Library California State University, Fresno 5200 N. Barton Ave., M/S-ML 34 Fresno, CA 93740?14
Phone 559 278?16 Fax 559 278i52 Email angelica at csufresno.edu
Received on Fri 17 Mar 2000 01:04:17 PM CST
