The 2nd Children’s Poetry Festival was celebrated in El Salvador, November 16 – 18, 2011. Talleres de Poesia hosted the event at the National Library in San Salvador where a number off well-known poets including Jorge Tetl Argueta, Francisco X. Alarcon,  Maria Guadalupe Castellanos, Jorgelina Cerritos and Manlio Argueta worked with Salvadoran children, youth and teachers in a blend of poetry readings and workshop presentations. The  theme of the workshops this year was the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. The event was a resounding success; check out the smiles on the participants’ faces and the video of the event.

Jorge Argueta, illustrations by Fernando Vilela,
Arroz con Leche: Un poema para cocinar / Rice Pudding: A Cooking Poem
Groundwood Books, 2010.

Ages 4-7

Rice is an important staple all over the planet, but each cuisine that features rice often makes it seem as if the simple grain belongs to that tradition alone. The young boy at the center of Jorge Argueta’s latest bilingual cooking poem is aware of rice’s versatility, however, and he likes “all kinds of rice”:

I like white rice,
brown rice,
fried rice,
stewed rice,
watery rice,
chicken and rice,
beans and rice.
I guess I like rice with anything.

“But what I like best and love the most” he goes on to say “is rice pudding.” And, just as his counterpart in Argueta’s 2009 poem Sopa de Frijoles/Bean Soup did, this child wastes no time showing the reader how to make this simple yet special Latin dish.

Listing utensils and ingredients as he gathers them together in the playful illustrations by award-winning Brazilian illustrator Fernando Vilela, the boy gets to work while his mother, a silhouette in the background, watches from a distance.

Each step is more joyful and poetic than the last. Filling the pot with water “makes me feel like/ there is a creek flowing through the kitchen.” “The flames heating the pot/ are rainbow hands…hugging the pot.” Boiling water makes “maraca music,” and “Foamy waves and clouds turn the pot into sea and sky.” When he pours the milk, “there is a white waterfall in the kitchen” to which the child adds “salt stars and sugar snow.” The excitement of creating is equaled only by the anticipation of the delicious arroz con leche the boy looks forward to serving his family.

Like Bean Soup, Rice Pudding celebrates traditional foods—and the values they embody: family, warmth, sharing—along with a child’s growing independence. Vilela’s illustrations contrast the cool grey-green-blue of the creative kitchen with the warm comfort of gold and orange in the rest of the home. When the whole family joins hands around the table to “slurp up” this delicious treat, readers will wish they could actually be there. This sweet, joyful poem about a sweet, comforting food will surely inspire new cooks and perhaps some new poets as well.

Abigail Sawyer
April 2011

Children’s Day/Book Day (El día de los niños/El día de los libros), also known as Día is a celebration of children, families, and reading. Held annually in the USA on April 30, Día celebrations emphasize the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Founded by author Pat Mora in 1996, Día is now hosted by the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC) along with founding partner REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

2011 marks the 15th anniversary of  Día and there are plenty of great events planned! Visit the ALSC’s  Día Celebrations page to find out all the details. Use the interactive map to search for events in your area and find out how others across the country celebrate literature, culture, and family! Let the ALSC know what’s going on in your community and they’ll send your library 100 Día stickers. Use the 2011 Día Media Kit to download logos and brochures and read the #dia11alsc Twitter feed.

The Arthur F. Turner Community Library in Sacramento, CA,  has an exciting Día event planned for this Saturday, April 16th. Author Jorge Argueta and author/illustrator Maya Christina Gonzalez will be on hand to read and sign their books, there will be bilingual stories, crafts, free book giveaways and more! Click on the poster image above to enlarge and get all the details.

On April 30th the national kick-off for Día takes place at the Pima County Library System (Valencia branch) in Tucson, AZ.  There, Pat Mora, ALSC members, and the general public can join the Pima County librarians in an afternoon filled with children’s reading events and a discussion on the history of Día.

“I am thrilled to have this opportunity to visit the site of one of the first libraries in the nation to embrace El día de los niños/El día de los libros,” said Mora. “Libraries play such a key role in supporting family literacy within diverse communities. From bilingual story hours for children to adult literacy and English as a Second language programs – libraries are truly part of the American Dream and are an important key to lifelong learning.”

Mora is the author of many children’s books including the Pula Belpre award-winning book Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day : Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros. Read PaperTigers’ interview with Pat Mora here and click here to watch ¡Colorín Colorado!’s video interview with Pat about Día’s 15th Anniversary.

Last November in San Salvador, El Salvador, Talleres de Poesia hosted the hugely successful First Children’s Poetry Festival. Award winning Salvadorian poet and children’s book author Jorge Tetl Argueta (who now resides in San Francisco, CA, USA) co-organized the event with Manlio Argueta, Director of the National Library of El Salvador, and two committees of volunteers from the San Francisco and San Salvador areas. The festival featured a number of well-known poets including Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, and Rene Colato Lainez who, for three days, participated in this unique and wonderful event giving the Salvadoran children, youth and teachers a blend of poetry readings and workshop presentations. Stay tuned as event organizers hope to make the Children’s Poetry Festival in El Salvador an annual event.

Not long ago, Corinne did a post on a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador.  The post piqued my interest in one of the hosts of the event,  poet Jorge Argueta,  whose books I immediately requested from the library.  As is my usual custom, I take out several books by the same author — as many as are available — and as a result, my daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful night of Argueta’s poetry and stories.  The two poetry books of Argueta’s I was able to read were:  Trees are Hanging from the Sky (illustrated by Rafael Yockteng, published by Groundwood, 2003) and A Movie in My Pillow (illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez, Children’s Book Press, 2001).   The first book was a little hard for my daughter to understand conceptually.  How was it that trees could hang from the sky?  She queried.   And their roots be like snakes?  But once she saw the illustrations, she understood.  I liked the ideas as sheer poetic inversion — it seemed marvelous to me, the idea of trees being rooted in the sky, rather than on earth!

A Movie in My Pillow is a bilingual book and contains short poems in Spanish and English.  In this book, the poems are more straightforward contemplations of the life of an El Salvadoran boy in San Francisco.   My daughter enjoyed this book very much and in fact, wanted to read the poems in English while I read the Spanish (which unfortunately I don’t know very well, but had fun trying to read aloud!)  After the book was done, she said she liked this poetry book a lot.  It was one of the few poetry books I’ve read that she was truly engaged in.

PaperTigers has done an interview with Jorge Argueta.  You might check it out along with his books for a wonderful treat of words!  I do hope his endeavours with the first ever children’s poetry festival in El Salvador go well.

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Susan Taylor Brown at Susan Writes.

An exciting event is being planned in San Salvador this coming November and celebrated Salvadorian poet and children’s author Jorge Argueta has kindly sent us the following details:

From November 8 -10, Talleres de Poesia and the National Library of El Salvador will be presenting the 1st Annual Children’s Poetry Festival at the National Library in San Salvador.

The theme of the festival will be the importance of reading and significance of peace for Salvadoran children and youth. Renowned poets will be conducting writing workshops to Salvadoran children and youth. Attendees will  also have the opportunity to enhance their writing skills and learn techniques on how to write their experiences through poetry. Confirmed poets include Jorge as well as Francisco X. Alarcon, Margarita Robleda, Rene Colato Lainez, Ana Ferrufino, Jackie Mendez, and Jeannette “Lil Milagro” Martinez-Cornejo

Jorge is co-organizing this wonderful project with Manlio Argueta, Director of the National Library of El Salvador, and two committees of volunteers from the San Francisco, USA and San Salvador areas. When I asked Jorge how the idea  for a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador came about, he replied:

I’ve been coming frequently to El Salvador for the last 2 years…I began to do school presentations as well as adult poetry readings where I had the opportunity to meet teachers, librarians and other writers. Having worked many Poetry Festivals in the USA, it occurred to me that a festival would be a positive, creative opportunity for the children in El Salvador. It is also my way to contribute back to my country. I was thrilled when many of my old and new friends supported this idea and project.

Producing a children’s poetry festival in El Salvador  has always been in my heart and mind. I grew up without books in El Salvador, however I always understood the beauty and the great success that comes from reading. Today, unfortunately there is a lot of violence in El Salvador – our hopes are that this festival will give children and young adults the opportunity to express themselves creatively on the issue of living in peace and their dreams for a positive future.

As you can imagine this is a huge undertaking and organizers are asking for help in making this event a success. Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made directly to:

Talleres de Poesia
Account # 0006696
Mission Federal Credit Union
3269 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA, USA 94110

or you can mail a check to:
Talleres de Poesia
90 Bepler St.
Daly City, CA, USA 94014

Fundraising events are underway in cities throughout the USA and well-known artists and children’s book authors have donated some amazing items to be used to raise funds.

For more information you can e-mail  talleresdepoesia(a)yahoo(dot)com or “friend” Talleres de Poesia on Facebook!

For our current issue on How Children Play Around the World, we asked several authors and illustrators to tell us about their Memories of Playtimes Past. Together, they paint a vivid picture of childhood around the world and reveal the power of imagination – something that still plays such an important role in all their lives as adults, and in the lives of kids today. Illustrator Mandana Sadat, whose own contribution is just wonderful, was struck after reading the whole article by the similarities in the different experiences of play – do read Aline’s post discussing this.

The first author up is Tanita Davis:

Growing up the youngest of three sisters (in Martinez, California) meant being left out of the older girls’ games. To placate me, I was named Mom’s “helper” and my playtimes combined chores and daydreaming. I would sit on the back porch and shuck corn from the garden, or weed the front yard – and then taking the silk from the corn, combine it with dirt and water, and make “pies” for the dog to eat (Our poor dog. She really did eat them.), or take the “milk” from the stems of the dandelions I was supposed to be eradicating from the front yard (after blowing all of the milkweed clocks and sufficiently re-seeding them throughout the lawn), and use it as glue to adhere dry weeds to the “head” of a cornhusk doll.

Because I was a quiet kid, I got away with a lot – climbing the tree next to my father’s shed, and making a tree-house of sorts on the roof, complete with its own chamber pot (Oh, I got in trouble when my mother found out about THAT) and store of slightly mildew books scavenged from a teacher’s throw-away pile. One summer I played with the hose and made carefully dried adobe “moccasins” that were no more than ten or twelve layers of clay mud I wore on the bottom of my feet as shoes. They lasted for a surprisingly long time before they cracked. As the layers dried, I would lie on my back in the yard and listen to the drone of the planes going to and from the Air Force base, and imagine they were taking people to adventures, just like I would have someday.

And Belle Yang brings the article to a flourishing close:

I was born on the subtropical island of Taiwan. The front yard was the rice paddies, alive with tadpoles like music notes on sheet music. The Sleeping Dragon Mountain, exploding with firecracker red azaleas, was my backyard. Rivulets, home to small fish and crustaceans, came rushing down the hills. My barefoot friends and I looked for tiny crabs as they crawled among the stones, dappled by sunlight and the motion of wind in the acacia.

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We caught the crabs and tied white sewing thread to one of their many legs. We took them for walks on the paved paths of the schoolyard, where my parents taught high school. I was delighted with my pet that could only walk sideways.

Do read the rest of the Memories of Playtimes Past – between them, Alan Gratz, Mandana Sadat, Jorge Argueta, Neni Sta Romana Cruz, Chris Cheng, Demi and Larry Loyie, along with Tanita and Belle quoted above, will evoke a smile, or even a laugh out loud – and certainly memories of one’s own childhood… And if you’d care to share some of those with us, we’d love to hear them!

Established in 1978, Groundwood Books is a small children’s book publisher, associated with House of Anansi Press, that specializes in Canadian authored books (with a special interest in books by First Nations authors), bilingual books in English and Spanish, translations from around the world, and a non-fiction line aimed at young adults. Their catalog features a long list of award-winning titles that reflect individual experiences and are of universal interest.

Patricia (Patsy) Aldana, founder and publisher of Groundwood Books (and president of IBBY, the International Board on Book for Young Readers, since 1997), answered our questions about My Little Round Rouse, one of the seven titles selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project; her commitment to publishing books by First Nations authors; the multicultural titles on their Fall list, and more.

In our series of interviews with the publishers of the books selected for our Spirit of PaperTigers project, I normally start by asking how the book in question came about as a project for the publisher. Since we already know the answer to this question in relation to My Little Round House, both from our interview with author Bolormaa Baasansuren and from translator Helen Mixter’s article, My Little Round House: The Journey of a Picture Book from Mongolia to Canada, we’ll start by asking…

PT: What in particular attracted you to My Little Round House?

PA: I thought it was a really special book about people whose lives are very different from ours. I also thought it was a very unique look at a baby’s life, a life that despite being nomadic seemed wonderfully cosy and safe.

PT: The books you publish often tell the stories of people whose voices are underrepresented. What first motivated you to start on this path and how do you manage to stay true to your mission?

PA: Being a Guatemalan, I guess that seeing the world through the eyes of the marginal has always come naturally to me. There are so many books published from and for the mainstream that, for me, focusing on underrepresented authors and illustrators was one way to justify being a publisher. As a small Canadian house, this focus has also been a way for us to distinguish ourselves from the huge multi-nationals with whom we have to compete.

PT: How did the decision to stop selling rights to the American market and to start publishing your books in the US come about?

PA: As US publishing changed from the editor-driven houses that I first came to know (Margaret K McElderry, Dorothy Briley, Susan Hirschman, Phyllis Fogelman, etc.), it became harder and harder to sell rights to our books in the US. At the same time Canada began to cut funding to school libraries and as a result (more…)

Crisscrossing the Globe: a World of International Books for Young People is an article in the 2/1/2010 issue of School Library Journal describing USBBY’s 2010 Outstanding International Books list. Written by Elizabeth Poe, the article includes annotations for all the books recognized. The outstanding lineup of titles includes My Little Round House (selected for the Spirit of PaperTigers book set donation project), Sopa de Frijoles, Wanting Mor, Hannah’s Winter, Tales from Outer Suburbia, and more.

This annual list is one of the activities of USBBY, the US chapter of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young Readers, whose aim is to promote international understanding and good will through books for children and young adults. A goal very much in line with PaperTigers’ own.

And speaking of USBBY, the organization is currently seeking applicants for the 2011 Bridge to Understanding Award. The award recognizes a program that promotes reading as a way to expand a child’s world. Any organization (such as schools, libraries, clubs, scout troops), within the United States, that has a program for children using books and reading as a way of promoting an understanding of cultures/countries outside the United States is eligible to apply. The selection committee will consider such criteria as the number of children reached by the program and the impact on the community as demonstrated by publicity coverage or anecdotal evidence. To be considered for the 2011 award, the program must occur during 2010. Download an application, or visit the website for more information.

PaperTigers’ current Book of the Month, Alfredito Flies Home by Jorge Argueta and illustrated by Luis Garay (Groundwood 2007) is the story of Alfredito and his family’s return to El Salvador for the first time in four years, since arriving as refugees in San Francisco. The writing bubbles over with happiness and excitement as readers/listeners are carried along by Alfredito’s narration of events – the preparation, the flight and the hectic, happy holiday itself.

This opens the way for young readers/listeners to empathise with Alfredito’s experiences, even if they have never been in his situation themselves. They will then also be able to engage with those other moments which give pause for thought: such as the allusion to the family’s original journey to America under the guidance of “Señor Coyote”; the visit to his grandparents’ graves; or the underlying reality of separation, with some family in America, some in El Salvador.

For children who have parallel experiences to Alfredito’s, on the other hand, Alfredito’s story is invaluable: as Debbie of American Indians in Children’s Literature pointed out in her review.

Luis Garay’s sensitively attuned illustrations make this book extra special and provide plenty of details both within and outside the narrative – so there’s a lot to discuss. I would recommend this book be shared at least the first time children are introduced to it – not only because its tone so lends itself to being read aloud but also because of the discussion and/or questions it will provoke.