From: JSidman at aol.com <JSidman>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 17:47:26 EST

I was excited to see Iguanas in the Snow among the Belpre books. This series of seasonal poetry books, which includes Laughing Tomatoes (spring), From the Bellybutton of the Moon (summer), and Angels Ride Bikes (autumn), is so full of life and color, right down to the titles. Alarcon's poems, written in English and Spanish, are bursting with feeling and vivid imagery.

I often use these books in poetry residencies here in Minnesota, which has a growing Latino population. These children LOVE to read Alarcon's poems in Spanish aloud to the class. Their fluency always impresses the other kids, too, who are used to hearing them stumble along in English. The last time I used Alarcon's book, one of the Latino kids was thrilled that his own name--Francisco--was the same as the author's. To me, this underscores the need for more (fabulous) Latino children's literature.

Joyce Sidman
Received on Fri 22 Feb 2002 04:47:26 PM CST