Moon Festival

I thought September would be a great time to post these two books, since the mid-autumn moon festival falls in September. This year it fell on September 8.

Thanking the Moon
Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Grace Lin
2010

A young girl and her family celebrate the moon and give thanks in this book. Beautifully  illustrated by Grace Lin, the book can be read aloud or quietly and maintains a calm, peaceful tone. We are also given background information about the festival and about the many things the family takes to celebrate the moon, such as mooncakes and lanterns. A very beautiful and informative picture book for all ages.

Mooncakes
Loretta Seto
ill by Renne Benoit
2013

A beautiful story about a young girl and her family, this book also shows some of the traditions that families have when celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival. A young girl and her family make mooncakes and hang lanterns and look up towards the moon under its light. Her parents tell her about the woman who lives on the moon, a woodcutter named Wu-Gang, and Jade Rabbit.

These books have lovely illustrations, stories, and cultural information, and would be amazing paired together or read individually.

Hispanic Heritage Month

"Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America." (hispanicheritagemonth.gov)

Check out some of these books we posted about at the library!

Also, happy 1 year anniversary to Libros Rancheros!

Animal Shapes

Great as a preschool activity about animals, shapes, or both! I take advantage of any opportunity to insert facts and science into activities, and here I included facts about each of the animals.

This last image just shows a couple of other possibilities with circles.

La última muñeca / The Last Doll

The Last Doll / La última muñeca
By / Por Diane Gonzales Bertrand
Illustrations by / Ilustraciones por Anthony Accardo
Spanish translation by / Traducción al español por Alejandra Balestra
2000

This book brought the song “La Última Muñeca” to my mind when I first saw it. As a child I constantly heard this song, a very sad song about a father who buys his daughter her last doll, but doesn’t show it to her in the end, because he realizes that his daughter is now a young woman. This book starts off with a doll named Sarita who gets looked over at a toy story. Finally a gentleman buys her for a special occasion – the Quinceañera of his goddaughter Teresa. The party is shown beautifully – mariachis are playing and there is an arch where the dancers walk through, and the cake even has the small staircases that are often used in cakes for a girl’s fifteenth birthday in Hispanic culture. This book is very nostalgic. The writing is well done and the illustrations are very beautiful, with characters portrayed realistically. It makes me wish Sarita was a real doll that was available for purchase for special occasions. I’m very glad this book is around to celebrate the traditions of the 15th birthday in Hispanic culture. A must-have for Spanish collections.

Make sure to check out the lyrics to the song I mentioned earlier:

Nunca nos damos cuenta de cómo un rosal crece
Hasta el día en que florece la rosa una mañana
Quisiéramos que fueran nuestros hijos, niños siempre
Pero de repente, un día, les brotan alas
Hoy le compré a mi niña, el último juguete
No me había dado cuenta, de lo que ya creció
Se acabo el entusiasmo, ya se acabó aquel brete
De a ver qué trajo papi, ahora que volvió
Hoy le compré a mi niña, el último juguete
No me había dado cuenta, de lo que ya creció

Hoy, que me dió el abrazo de bienvenida
Noté que está mas alta, y que se perfumó
Cómo pasaron cosas, en unos cuantos días
Obra maravillosa, se hizo rosa el botón

Hoy le compré a mi niña, la última muñeca
No me había dado cuenta, se está haciendo mujer
Hoy le compré a mi niña, la última muñeca
La última muñeca, y ni se la enseñé

Y ahora se pasa, horas y horas en los espejos
Ella se mira de frente, de espalda, de perfil
Ahora ya ni me dice, papi cuéntame un cuento
Y a veces, ni me besa cuando se va a dormir

Hoy, que me dio el abrazo de bienvenida
Noté que está mas alta, y que se perfumó
Cómo pasaron cosas, en unos cuantos días
Obra maravillosa, se hizo rosa el botón

Hoy le compré a mi niña, la última muñeca
No me había dado cuenta, se está haciendo mujer
Hoy le compré a mi niña, la última muñeca
La última muñeca, y ni se la enseñé

Source: http://artists.letssingit.com/los-baron-de-apodaca-lyrics-la-ultima-muneca-3cj5k7w#ixzz39eQiBGHO
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community

Calavera Abecedario

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book

Jeanette Winter

2004

I really love many of Jeanette Winter’s books. Her illustrations, for me, capture the color and vibrancy in Mexican culture. This book is a perfect example of that. Every color on every page, every different calavera and their profession, is perfect. This book reminds me of the books by Cynthia Weill, because it introduces the reader to a Mexican artisan and their body of work. We learn about Don Pedro, who makes skeletons for the Dia de los Muertos celebrations every year. He works tirelessly day after day with his family to make countless skeletons. We are shown an alphabet-full of skeletons, from Doctor to Quimico to Unicornio to Vaquero, all incredibly detailed. At the end of the celebrations, Don Pedro goes back home and wakes the next day to begin his work again in preparation for the next year (reminds me a little of Santa Claus). The end describes Mexican celebrations and tells us about Don Pedro Linares and his famous cartoneria creations. His children now carry on the tradition of creating these festive skeletons. A unique presentation of an artisan and his craft, the alphabet, different professions, and Mexican traditions.

The Land of Lost Things / Lupita's First Dance

The Land of Lost Things / El País de las Cosas Perdidas
Dina Bursztyn
2011

We follow the narrator as they travel to the Land of Lost Things, a place where buttons, pencils, and other things go when we cannot find them. Pencils become trees in a forest, scissors become butterflies, umbrellas can be found in a garden, and a flock of socks is playing in the wind. The narrator interacts with the items, until finally they arrive back in their own world. This is a very nice story that everyone will have fun reading, especially if you know of the feeling of being unable to find that lost sock pair. The imagination of the narrator is full of creativity, and will inspire children to use their own imaginations.

Lupita’s First Dance / El Primer Baile de Lupita
2013
Lupe Ruiz-Flores
Ill. by Gabhor Utomo

Lupita's class will be giving a performance of ‘La Raspa’ and this will be Lupita's first time dancing in front of an audience. Her mother helps her with her dress, and she practices with her partner. When the night of the dance arrives, Lupita's partner cannot make it to the dance! She is so disappointed, but as she watches the pairs dance on stage, a sudden impulse pushes her on the stage with them, and she dances beautifully. I love how the dresses are illustrated and how Lupita's family supports her so much, from helping her with her dress to attending the performance. The disappointment in Lupita's face is shown so clearly you cannot help but feel sad for her. And the incredible courage it took for Lupita to dance on stage by herself makes you want to cheer for her. A very good story about doing what you love.

Mi Familia Calaca / My Skeleton Family

Mi Familia Calaca / My Skeleton Family
2013
Cynthia Weill
Paper mache by Jesús Canseco Zárate

Like Cynthia Weill's other books, Mi Familia Calaca is bright, vibrant, colorful, and perfect for learning words in Spanish and English. Anita, a young skeleton girl, introduces us to her family: brothers, parents, grandparents, great-grandmother, and pets. She says something about each one of them: her brother can be a troublemaker, and her pets are her best friends. This book is crisp and clear and very good for beginning readers. This book also introduces us to the paper mache artwork of Jesús Canseco Zárate, who did a wonderful job of crafting each of the family members. Beautiful!