The award-winning author René Colato Laínez has a very specific purpose for his bilingual/multicultural children’s book. Laínez writes on his website (http://www.renecolatolainez.com/), “My goal as a writer is to produce good multicultural children’s literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see themselves as heroes, and where they can dream and have hopes for the future.” And so we are featuring in this month’s School Library the works of Laínez. Teacher’s guides’ courtesy of Lee & Low Books. Videos courtesy of René Colato Laínez’s official Facebook page (https://www.youtube.com/user/cipote1).
k-12
“MAMÁ THE ALIEN/MAMÁ LA EXTRATERRESTRE”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 2 - 3
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
ISBN-13: 978-0892392988
Teacher’s Guide: https://www.leeandlow.com/books/mama-the-alien-mama-la-extraterrestre/teachers_guide
When Mamá’s purse falls on the floor, Sofia gets a peek at Mamá’s old Resident Alien card and comes to the conclusion that Mamá might be an alien from outer space. But Mamá looks like a human mother not a space alien. Sofia is still puzzling out this mystery when she sees an extraterrestrial-looking Mamá one night. It turns out Mamá is doing a beauty treatment, so she will look her best for her citizenship ceremony. That’s when Sofia realizes that in English, an alien can be someone from another planet or a person from another country—just like Mamá.
“FROM NORTH TO SOUTH/DEL NORTE AL SUR”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 1 - 2
Publisher: Children’s Book Press
ISBN-13: 978-0892393046
Teacher’s Guide: https://www.leeandlow.com/books/from-north-to-south-del-norte-al-sur/teachers_guide
José loves helping Mamá in the garden outside their home in California. But when Mamá is sent back to Mexico for not having proper papers, José and his Papá face an uncertain future. What will it be like to visit Mamá in Tijuana? When will Mamá be able to come home? Award-winning children’s book author René Colato Laínez tackles the difficult and timely subject of family separation with exquisite tenderness. He is donating a portion of his royalties to El Centro Madre Assunta, a refuge for women and children who are waiting to be reunited with their families up north.
“TELEGRAMAS AL CIELO/TELEGRAMS TO HEAVEN”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 3 - 4
Publisher: Lunas Pr Books
ISBN-13: 978-0964120327
Interview With Author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gGBMpqZmFA
“Telegrams to Heaven” recounts the childhood of a young boy named Óscar who dreams from an early age of someday becoming a priest. As someone who likes sending and receiving telegrams, praying for Óscar is like sending his own special telegrams to heaven from his heart. Eventually, young Óscar would grow up to become not only a priest but the famous Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. In René Colato Laínez’s story, however, the reader is introduced to the archbishop as a boy who plays a bamboo flute, and writes and recites poetry, and is still dreaming about his future.
“THE TOOTH FAIRY MEETS EL RATON PEREZ”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: Preschool - 2
Publisher: Tricycle Press
ISBN-13: 978-1582462967
Author’s Video Bio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=85&v=WvSxIfctTUs
The Tooth Fairy has competition from El Ratón Pérez, the charming and adventurous mouse who collects children’s teeth in Spain and Latin America. When both the Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez arrive to claim Miguelito’s newly-lost tooth, sparks fly under the Mexican-American boy’s pillow. The Tooth Fairy collects teeth to build sparkling castles, but El Ratón Pérez wants the tooth to help him build a rocket ship to go to the moon. Who will rightfully claim Miguelito’s tooth? Can the two become friends? This magical tale provides a fresh take on the familiar childhood experience of losing one’s tooth.
Higher Education
EDUCATING ACROSS BORDERS: THE CASE OF A DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER
by María Teresa de la Piedra, Blanca Araujo and Alberto Esquinca
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
ISBN-13: 978-0816538478
“Educating Across Borders” is an ethnography of the learning experience of transfronterizxs, border-crossing students living on the U.S.-Mexico border whose lives span two countries, as well as two languages. This title examines language practices and funds of knowledge these students use as learning resources to help them navigate through their binational, dual language school experience. The authors, who themselves live and work on the border, question artificially created cultural and linguistic borders. To explore this issue, they employed participant-observation, focus groups, and individual interviews with teachers, administrators, and staff members to construct rich understandings of the experiences of transfronterizx students.
“ENCANTADO: DESERT MONOLOGUES”
by Pat Mora
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
ISBN-13: 978-0816538027
Inspired by Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology” and Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” Pat Mora brings us the poetic monologues of Encantado, an imagined southwestern town. Each poem forms a story that reveals the complex and emotional journeys taken through life. Mora meanders through the thoughts of Encantado’s residents and paints a portrait of a community through its inhabitants’ own diverse voices. Even the river has a voice. Inspired by both the real and imagined stories around her, Mora transports the reader to the heart of what it means to join in a chorus of voices, a community, a town.
“LATINAS AND LATINOS ON TV: COLORBLIND COMEDY IN THE POST-RACIAL NETWORK ERA”
by Isabel Molina-Guzmán
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
ISBN-13: 978-0816537242
Since ABC’s “George Lopez Show” left the airwaves in 2007, the representational landscape of Latina and Latino actors has shifted from media invisibility to increasing inclusion. Sofia Vergara became the highest paid woman and Latina on TV for her role on “Modern Family.” Gina Rodriguez gained critical acclaim for her role on “Jane the Virgin.” America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) returned to TV stardom in NBC’s “Superstore.” This period brought U.S. Latina and Latino lives to the screen, yet a careful look at TV comedic content and production reveals a more troubling terrain specifically for Latinas/os producers, writers, actors and audiences.
“BETWEEN THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON: LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL MEANING IN BOLIVIA”
by Anna M. Babel
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
ISBN-13: 978-0816537266
“Why can’t a Quechua speaker wear pants?” Anna M. Babel uses this question to open an analysis of language and social structure at the border of eastern and western, highland and lowland Bolivia. Through an exploration of categories such as political affiliation, ethnic identity, style of dress and history of migration, she describes the ways that people understand themselves and others as Quechua speakers, Spanish speakers or something in between. This ethnography in storytelling form, is a rigorous yet sensitive exploration of how people understand themselves and others as members of social groups through the words and languages they use.
