Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems

Jitomates Risueños y otros poemas de primavera
By Francisco X. Alarcón, Maya Gonzalez
Paperback: $11.95

Bilingual English/Spanish. From the imagination of poet Francisco X. Alarcón comes Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems, a playful and moving collection of twenty poems in English and Spanish.

Description

Tomatoes laugh, chiles explode, and tortillas applaud the sun! With joy and tenderness, delight and sadness, Alcarcón’s poems honor the wonders of life and nature: welcoming the morning sun, remembering his grandmother’s songs, paying tribute to children working in the fields, and sharing his dream of a world filled with gardens.

Artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invites us to experience the poems with her lively cast of characters-including a spirited grandma, four vivacious children, and playful pets who tease and delight. Follow them from page to page as they bring each poem to colorful life.

Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems is a verbal and visual treat, giving us twenty opportunities to see everything for the first time.

About the Creators

Francisco X. Alarcón
Francisco X. Alarcón

Francisco X. Alarcón was a renowned poet and educator, and a three-time winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award Honor for his bilingual Magical Cycle of the Seasons series of poetry for children. His many other honors include the American Book Award, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, the Chicano Literary Prize, and finalist for state poet laureate of California. Alarcón was also the author of several poetry collections for adults and textbooks for teaching Spanish. In addition, he directed the Spanish for Native Speakers Program at the University of California. Alarcón passed away in early 2016.

Maya Gonzalez

Maya Gonzalez is an award-winning children’s book artist, author, activist and progressive educator. Their work addresses systemic inequity in relation to race/ethnicity, sexism, and cissexism using children’s books as radical agents of change and healing, both personally and culturally. Gonzalez co-founded Reflection Press, a POC, queer and trans owned independent publishing house that uses holistic, nature-based, and anti-oppression frameworks in their books and materials for kids and grown-ups. They are also the creator of the Gender Wheel, a tool to express the dynamic, infinite and inclusive reality of gender, and provides lectures and workshops to educators, parents and caregivers. Visit them online at mayagonzalez.com.

Awards

  • Pura Belpré Author Award Winner

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • Américas Award Commended Title

    Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs

  • National Parenting Publications Awards

    National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA)

Reviews

  • "Alarcón, an award-winning poet, has the ability to write beautiful poems in both languages... the poems are fun, language-rich, and brought to life by the realistic illustrations. The illustrations are delightful."

    - Multicultural Review
  • "Maya Christina Gonzalez has created delightfully upbeat and innovative artwork to accompany the text--so bountiful it feels as if it's spilling off the pages. Her sense of joy is immediately contagious and the paintings, upon repeated gazing, offer more and more to look at."

    - Hungry Mind Review
  • "This collection of verses in English and Spanish, illustrated with bold, primitive paintings, carves a lighthearted niche all its own."

    - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

Paperback

  • ISBN 9780892391998
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 2013
  • Trim Size 10.5 × 8 × 0.2 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JNF / Poetry / General
  • BISAC Category 2 JNF / Cooking & Food
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino
  • Themes Bilingual, Biography / Memoir, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Dreams & Aspirations, Environment / Nature, Families, Farming, Food, Friendship, Grandparents, Home, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Imagination, Informational / Expository Nonfiction, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Nonfiction, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Poetry, Pride, Weather / Seasons / Clothing
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 7 - 11
  • Grade Range Grades 2 - 6
  • Guided Reading O
  • ATOS Book Level 4.3
  • DRA 34
  • Interest Level Grades 2 - 6
  • Lexile Code NP
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
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