Cuentecitos

Pat Mora, one of my favorite authors has entered the wonderful world of blogging. Her Bookjoy Blog is all about finding the joy in books. She’s hoping that we all contribute and commenhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift on ideas for El día de los niños. What gives you bookjoy? Visit Pat often at She’ll be a permanent link on the sidebars of both Cuentecitos and AmoXcalli. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

From Cuentecitos and AmoXcalli, welcome to the kidlitosphere Pat!

You may or may not be aware of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Book Day/Children’s Day). If you’re Latino, it may remind you of El día del niño that is celebrated in your country of origin. That’s what it reminded me of when I first learned about it. The difference between that “día” and this one; is that this one is meant to celebrate not only children, but children AND books! Founded by author Pat Mora, and now housed at the American Library Association (ALSC),

El día de los niños gives us all a wonderful excuse to promote Latino literacy and Latino books on April 30th! You can get more information on this wonderful celebration here.

If you’re an author, go to your local library or bookstore and encourage them to celebrate El día de los niños; offer to do a reading or somehow participate in the event to make it more enticing. It will further not only the celebration, but Latino books and literacy as a whole. Take part in this, it is only getting bigger.

This year is filled with new developments surrounding “Día,” as it is commonly called. The American Association of Publisher’s PLVA (Publishing Latino Voices for America) Committee and ALSC have partnered to create the first ever El día de los niños/El día de los libros list of recommended titles to be distributed to all of AAP’s outlets. These include AAP’s mailing lists and conferences. Here’s a link to the list. The list is a result of a collaboration among publishers to make it easier for libraries, booksellers, and everyone else interested in Latino books to find exactly what they need for their Día celebrations on April 30th, and throughout the rest of the year. Tell your colleagues and everyone you know about it, and hopefully we can have another one next year!

To celebrate Día, Rayo is also producing its yearly El día de los niños/El día de los libros poster. The poster is distributed at conferences to increase awareness of Día, and to provide librarians and booksellers with materials to celebrate and advertise Día at their libraries and bookstores.

One of Rayo’s own authors, Univision Radio’s Dra. Isabel, will also be participating in a Día event at New York City’s Jackson Heights public library. We hope that event, and the author’s celebrity, will increase awareness of Día’s even more.

These are all exciting developments that serve to further Latino children’s publishing as a whole. It is a pleasure to witness Día’s growth each year, so I ask you to join me in celebrating it in any way you can, and by spreading the word. ¡Feliz día de los niños y los libros!

Title: Doña Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman With a Great Big Heart
Author: Pat Mora
Illustrator: Raul Colón
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (October 25, 2005)
ISBN: 0679980024

Award winning Pat Mora and illustrator Raul Colón, an award winner in his own right have collaborated once again in this funny, touching and gorgeous book. They have partnered once before with Tomás and the Library Lady, which won several awards, including the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children’s Book Award.

Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in the Southwest and makes giant tortillas which the children use as rafts and the grown ups use to roof their houses making the air smell of sunshine and warm corn. Her casa is as huge as a mountain, which she made herself adding estrellas to make the adobe shine. To cheer up the villagers, she scratches them out a rio. Everything she grows in her garden grows to amazing sizes and she lets the children in her pueblo use flowers for trumpets and the huge sunflowers for umbrellas. The people love the beautiful and kind Doña Flor and look up to her so it is no surprise when the villagers hear a loud roaring to call on her for help against the strange sound. What follows is a funny and wonderful tall tale of Doña Flor’s hunt for the creature that is terrifying the villagers she protects and loves. Pat Mora’s story telling is humorous, wonderful and filled with her love for the Southwest. The imagery is amazing; you can almost smell those giant corn tortillas and hear the roar of the “monster gato”.

The illustrations by Raul Colón are lovely, a wondrous combination of watercolor washes, etchings and colored and litho pencils. Doña Flor and her world are vividly portrayed and you can almost step into each page and walk into the fantastic world created by Ms. Mora. The characters faces are so beautiful; Doña Flor in particular is a gorgeous rendition of a Mexican woman with a beautiful oval brown face, full lips and deep brown eyes. She is reminiscent of a Diego Rivera painting or a Da Vinci Madonna. The colors are soft yet vibrant – luscious blue-greens and the rich warm hues of a desert sunset. Ay que bonito! I loved this book and the story made me laugh out loud. I love turning the pages and finding more and more to love in the illustrations of children marching with their flower trumpets – copa de oro my grandmother called those flowers and just about every house in our neighborhood growing up had them growing so the book also brought back a rush of warm and happy memories.

Pat Mora writes poetry, non-fiction and children’s books. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship and a Kellogg National Fellowship. She is a native of El Paso, Texas and currently lives in Santa Fe.

Raul Colón has illustrated many books for children. He has been awarded gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators for his picture-book art. Mr. Colón resides in New York City.