Retrieve Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems And Prose About The Latino Experience Generated By Alma Flor Ada Expressed As File

have always wanted a book like this that explains to Californians in particular the differences and similarities among Latinos, We live in such a diverse land, This book celebrates and inspires and illustrates those differences beautifully while encouraging unity among all of us, Thank you to Alma Flor Ada and F, Isabel Campoy, and David Diaz the wonderful illustrator of the lino cutouts, This book will inspire students to write about themselves to find their own voice, This has been Alma Flor Ada's gift to children for some time and she does it supremely well in this book, This book is also personally important to me since my own granddaughter is a marvelous mixture of at least four cultures and she will gain from reading this book.
Until you start reading this book you have no way of knowing about the rich and detailed history it provides including the short and intimate stories.
Starting with the arrival of strangers to the United States, how traditions were established, the arrival of illnesses, the importance of language, etc.
, you will find it hard to put this book down, In between the history and facts so easy to read and understand, are the stories of Latina/os told through their childhood memories.
Here is a sample from one short story in the book entitled, "My Name is Jose Miguel Not Joe, Not Mike", Jose Miguel's teacher keeps asking him to "blend in" and use "Joe" or "Mike" in class, Jose Miguel's response is: "Do you know who Cervantes is, Mr, Tate" I asked him politely, Don Miguel de Cervantes or Miguel de Unamuno or Miguel Hernandez Look them up, Mr, Tate. I was very sure to keep my tone soft, my words polite, Google them. Then you would know why I can't be called Mike, "Adelante! Yes, these stories are the truth, the real reason why some of us are afraid of migration, immigration, documentation and any other means of newly arrivals returning to the land that was taken as a "war prize".
A large percentage of these children will sit in positions some day passing laws and in control of our well being, I purchased this as I haveHispanic, nearly all Mexican students and wanted poetry and to represent their heritage to teach poetry in my ELA class.
This spans all different kinds of Hispanic peoples with the intent to show the diversity within that one word/term for the population category.
One complaint is many are free verse and they are long not short for classroom use ease, They ramble and can seem sometimes uninteresting instead of being carefully crafted with fewer words with impact, Rating Its Okay. YES! WE ARE LATINOSBy Alma Flor Ada and F, Isabel Campoy, pictures by David DiazVoices! Power and pride singing in this book is felt in each of the thirteen distinctive narrative poems.
Each poem is told in the first person of a Latino child who introduces his or her unique cultural background and situation, Personalities shine. Individuals become real. Stories touch your heart. Each poem is followed by a few pages of informative nonfiction that outlines related aspects of the childs history and culture, What a rich and diverse bouquet of celebration!May I introduce Juanita who says:“I am Mexican, I live in New York, I am Latina. ” But unknown to her teacher, her home language is not Spanish, but Mixtec, a “secret language that no one in this school even suspects exists.
”And then a surprise arrives at Juanitas classroom a new student, Elena, “Next to the teacher stands a girl her skin the same rich color as mine,her hair, black, long, and as straight as mine, andher face showing the same surprise as mine a surprise that makes her dark eyes sparklelike black obsidian in the sun.
”Meet for a moment, Rocio, whose grandparents were refugees from Spain during the terrible times when General Franco was the dictator, Rocio shares lines from her grandparents diary and then her impressions when “A year ago I went with Abu Amaya to see Guernica the townthat inspired Picassoto paint the horror of

the war.
”These individual voices will touch your heart, David Diazs bold woodcut illustrations done in the style of the “papel picado” add a rich visual, especially hisshadow silhouettes, ”I asked the authors, Alma Flor Ada and F, Isabel Campoy about their creation of this remarkable book, Here are their responses:Isabels perspectiveDuring our visits to schools we have had the fortune to meet countless numbers of Latino teachers, parents and children.
Those encounters have always provided a rich communication between us, about the many things we all shared as Latinos, and the ones we did not, all within the same culture.
We met parents from different countries, grandparents that added sometimes two or backgrounds to the mix of the same family, We met Latino children that only spoke English, children that only spoke Spanish, bilingual children that proudly walked the bridge of their Latino culture.
I was born in Spain, but I consider myself Latina, I have lived longer in the United States that in my native country, The story told in the book about Alicante, is a true story, The realities of war and the poverty that follows, is an unfortunate reality Spain and Latino America have shared, I often repeat that I am a mestiza, of cultures, of ways to see life, and I think is a virtue to belong to an identity that can feel, love, laugh and cry in than one color.
In Yes! We Are Latinos and now also in its Spanish version Sí! Somos latinos we have tried to explain to us and to anyone curious about our identities, who we are, where do we come from, what are the realities we have survived and which we are still suffering and how, only through knowledge we will be free.
History belongs to those who write it, We have already taken the pen in hand!Almas perspectiveAs Isabel has mentioned, knowledge is necessary to enjoy true freedom, As a life long educator I have felt the need to share with young people, Latinos and non Latinos alike, important moments of our history.
But I do not believe that information can only be presented through non fictional text, but, instead I strongly believe that literary narrative can provide the deepest aspects of reality, what Unamuno called the “intra historia”, the daily experiences, that support the official history.
The free verse vignettes that introduce each of the chapters of the book are meant to make the facts alive through realistic characters, boys and girls who live the consequences of the facts presented.
It is our hope that their portraits based on composite of real life individuals we have known throughout our lives will not only be good motivators to read about the history of their people, but that they will be memorable, and, become a motivation for the readers to want to get to know better their own relatives, friends, and classmates, and perhaps offer some insights about themselves.
David Díaz contribution has enriched the book, By making his woodcuts in the style of “papel picado” a beloved handcraft he offers an additional element of authenticity to the narrative.
We were absolutely delighted seeing how he could capture the essence of the characters and embellish the book with those black silhouettes, READERS of all ages, this is a stunning book that crumbles stereotypes, Published by Charlesbridge,. Learned a lot of history that I would otherwise have been oblivious to since it isn't taught in school here in America, The poems and stories are really nice, touching and full of pride, Lovely book. .