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By:
Aline Pereira,
on 7/18/2012
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My Life in the United States ~ by René Colato Laínez
Part 2 of 3 (Read Part 1 here)
For Christmas of 1984, my mother sent me a new pair of shoes from the United States. I still remember my father’s words, “These are good gringos shoes. These are very good shoes for the trip to the United States.”
On February 17 1985, my father and I left El Salvador. Two days later, we arrived in Mexico City. Then, we were stuck in Mexico City for almost two months. We could not continue our journey because Mexican immigration took all the money from my father. It wasn’t until April that my mother sent us more money for our trip. During my journey, my father and I crossed three countries and climbed the mountains from Tijuana to the United States. But we made it to Los Angeles. My shoes were not new anymore. They had holes everywhere. One shoe was missing the sole.
There are certain moments that mark your like forever. My journey and my new life in the United States as a new immigrant created a big impact in me and in my writing. In my book, My Shoes and I, I tell the story of my journey and in my other books I write about the new immigrant child in the United States. Most of my books are based in my life and some are autobiographical just like René Has Two Last Names/René tiene dos apellidos and I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño.
I experienced the silent period and many culture shocks. In El Salvador René is a name boy. I could not believe it that in 
the United States my beautiful name was a girl’s name, Renee. Children not only laughed because I had a girl’s name but also because I had two last names, “Your name is longer than an anaconda” “You have a long dinosaur’s name.”
I was able to adapt to the new country. I studied really hard and graduated with honors from high school. Then, I went to college and became a teacher. But I did not have legal papers yet. My mother became a resident thanks to the amnesty program. She applied for my papers but it was 1993 and I had not received my green card. I started to work as a teacher because I got a work permit. For two years, I received letters from LAUSD, “We need to have evidence of your legal status. Your work permit will expire soon.” But finally in 1995, I received the famous immigration letter. Yes! I had an appointment to get my green card. It was not green after all. It was pink!
The ideas to write many of my books are born in the classroom. One day, a first grader told me, “I want to write a letter to my mamá. She is in Guatemala and I miss her so much.” That night I wrote a story named
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 7/11/2012
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The War in El Salvador ~ by René Colato Laínez
When I was a child in El Salvador, I went to school, recited poetry, played with my friends and won a hula-hoop contest
on national television. I might say that I had a normal childhood. But then, everything was upside down. For many days the school closed because of civil revolts. The radio and the television always talked about the army, guerrillas and the revolution in the country. The mad game came to El Salvador. The country was involved in a terrible civil war.
As I child, I did not really understand what was really going on. I asked myself many times, Why? Why were they doing this to the country? Before the war, when I heard a “boom”, I clapped and jumped up a down. It was the sound of the fireworks for Christmas. A “boom” meant that Christmas was around the corner. But during the war, when I heard the first “boom”, I ran home and hid under my bed, while more “booms” went on and on. Because those “booms” were not the sounds of happiness, they were the sounds of war.
During the war, thousands of Salvadorans left the country looking for peace and better opportunities. Many of these Salvadorans traveled to the United States. My mom was the first one in the family who left the country. After many struggles, my father and I left El Salvador in 1985.
I arrived in Los Angeles, California and I had the determination to go to school to become a teacher. Now I am a kindergarten teacher at Fernangeles Elementary School. I am also the author of many children’s books.
In December 2010, Cinco Puntos Press contacted me to participate in a book. They were putting together an anthology about children and war and were wondering if I could consider submitting an essay for the anthology. Of course I said yes! I love Cinco Puntos Press books. I use their bilingual books in my classroom all the time. Participating in this anthology was an honor for me.
The name of the book is That Mad Game; Growing Up in a Warzone: An Anthology of Essays from Around the Globe. The editor of the anthology is J. L. Powers.
Now was the hard part. What to write about? I grew up during the war and I had so many memories. My fourth grade teacher was killed during the war. That morning, the school was closed. Instead of having class, all the students went to a funeral home that was located one block away from school. I also knew friends who were recruited and found dead days later in rubbish dumps.
But I wanted to write all the way from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to write about my family and how the war divided us. But it was hard! Remembering my mom saying good-bye at the airport, visiting my father in jail, listening to the terrible news that archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was assassinated and the final chaos at the cathedral during his funeral were all hard memories to put on paper. I must confess that I wrote my essay with tears in my eyes. Also it was a good therapy to write the essay. Yes, the war divided us but it could not destroy our love, faith and family bond.
The name of my ess
On May a group of 3rd grade Latino students critiqued my book My Shoes and I. You can read the critique here.
Muchas gracias niños and
muchas gracias to maestro Rudy Garcia for your words and
lindas palabras for
My Shoes and I.The students also sent me some questions. With
mucho placer, here are my answers. :)
BryanG: How did you ever do this wonderful book?
Ever since I was trying to publish my first book, I wanted to write my story of crossing three borders. Yay! Now it is a book!
Have you gone through these things in your life?
This is my real journey from El Salvador to the United States. All the incidents in the book happened to me. I can still remember the dogs chasing me and discovering the holes on my shoes.
Nancy: What inspired you to do this book and how did you think of so many good ideas?
My journey to the United States was my inspiration to write this book. This journey and my life as a new immigrant child in the United States are my treasures of inspiration. Every time I want to write a new story, I look into my treasures and always find great stories.
Marianay: How did you come up with the story?
I lived the story. A famous Latin American author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, wrote that you have to live in order to tell the story. Writing this book was like writing in my own personal journal.
Adal: Where did you get all this information?
I got the information while I was walking, taking buses and crossing borders. The journey was scary and exciting at the same time. Scary because you never know what can happen on the road and exciting because I was going to see Mamá and escaping war. Every moment was recorded in my mind.
Lesley: Did you really need to cross the border when you were young?
Yes, because we did not have the right papers to fly to the United States. My family was poor in my country and the only way to come to the United States was to cross three borders.
Questions from several kids:Do you like sad or happy endings?
I like happy endings because at the end of every book, I want to know that the main character will be fine or that there is hope to accomplish his/her dreams, but sometimes sad endings teach us valuable lessons. We can always learn from positive and negative experiences.
Do you ever write scary stories?
Yes, I do! In college I wrote the short story Blood Tears
Conference Description
This April 23rd and 24th celebrate the rich traditions and diversity within the Latino cultures at the National Celebration of Latino Children’s Literature Conference. Discover how to meet the informational and literacy needs of Latino children via high quality, culturally-relevant literature and the latest educational strategies. Engage in unique networking opportunities with librarians, teachers, educators, and researchers from across the nation as we explore how to make intercultural connections and serve this rapidly growing, uniquely diverse population.
As the number of Latino children and their families continues to increase, so does the need for understanding these diverse cultures. This exclusive conference provides a forum for sharing current research and practice addressing the cultural, educational, and informational needs of Latino children and their families. At the same time, the conference also examines the many social influences that Latino children’s literature has upon the developing child.
Beginning Friday April 23rd at 1 p.m. on the historical University of Alabama campus, nationally-recognized Latino children’s literature expert Oralia Garza de Cortés will launch the recurring conference theme “Connecting Cultures and Celebrating Cuentos” with a powerful keynote address. Participants will then have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions related to Latino children’s and young adult literature, library services to Latinos, and literacy education for Latino children. Immediately following these small group sessions, award-winning Latina author Monica Brown and award-winning Latino artist Rafael López will discuss the collaborative synergy behind their work.
Friday evening, award-winning Latina author and storyteller Carmen Tafolla will celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), Latino children’s literature, and cultural literacy with a free community event at the Tuscaloosa Public Library. This Noche de Cuentos (Evening of Stories) begins at 7 p.m. and includes storytelling, refreshments, and free books for the niños.
On Saturday April 24th, Dr. Monica Brown energizes participants and opens the day’s events with a keynote address at Mary Hewell Alston Hall. Breakout sessions for both practitioners and researchers as well as graduate and undergraduate students will follow and include a variety of topics related to Latino children’s literature and literacy. Research posters will also be on display throughout the conference.
Lunch will be served at the Ferguson Center and will be followed by an engaging keynote at Mary Hewell Alston Hall with award-winning artist and illustrator Rafael López. Afterwards breakout sessions will include topics related to education, literacy, storytelling, and library services for Latino children. Storyteller and award-winning author Dr. Carmen Tafolla will bring down the house with a grand finale performance followed by a book signing with conference authors. Attendees will hav
Writing from My Immigrant Experience
by René Colato Laínez
When immigrant children come to the United States, they experience a variety of emotional and cognitive adjustments in the new country. They have left behind a language, a culture and a community. From one moment to another, their familiar world changes into an unknown world of uncertainties. These children have been uprooted from all signs of the familiar and have been transported to an unfamiliar foreign land. In the process of adaptation, immigrant children experience some degree of shock. IN THE INNER WORLD OF THE IMMIGRANT CHILD, Cristina Igoa writes:
"This culture shock is much the same as the shock we observe in a plant when a gardener transplants it from one soil to another. We know that shock occurs in plants, but we are not always conscious of the effects of such transplants on children. Some plants survive, often because of the gardener’s care; some children survive because of the teachers, peers, or a significant person who nurtures them during the transition into a new social milieu."
I use my experience of being uprooted from my country of origin, being transplanted to the United States and my adaptation to a new culture in order to authentically and realistically portray the immigrant experience my picture books such as WAITING FOR PAPÁ, I AM RENÉ, THE BOY, RENÉ HAS TWO LAST NAMES and my new book MY SHOES AND I.
Stages of Uprooting
Immigrant children go through stages of uprooting to adapt to a new country:
1-Mixed emotions
2-Excitement or fear in the adventure of the journey
3-Curiosity, culture shock that exhibits as depression or confusion
4- Assimilation/ acculturation into the mainstream
During the first stage of the uprooting, children experience mixed emotions when the parents tell them that they will be moving to another country. Sometimes they are not informed until the actual day their journey begins. Most of the time the children do not know where they are going. They only know they must go because their parents are going. They do not have a choice.
In the second stage the children experience excitement or fear during the journey by train, car, plane, boat or on foot. They are usually with a parent or relative, and there is much discussion among them in their own language. The long and tiring journey begins.
MY SHOES AND I takes place during the first and second stages of uprooting. Mario is informed by his father that they are moving to the united states to meet Mamá.
For Christmas, Mamá sent me a new pair of shoes from the United States.
I love my new shoes. They walk everywhere I walk. They jump every time I jump. They run as fast as me. We always cross the finish line at the same time.
“Mario, these are very good shoes for the trip,” Papá says.
Papá tells me that it is a very long trip. We need to cross three countries. But no matter how long the trip will be, I will get there. My shoes will take me anywhere.
In MY SHOES AND I, I am telling my story and the stories of thousands of children who need to cross borders in order to accomplish their dreams.
About the book:
Mario is leaving his home in El Salvador. With his father by his side, he is going north to join his mother, who lives in the United States. She has sent Mario a new pair of shoes, and he is thrilled. He will need goo
On Monday, Febrary 1st my picture book MY SHOES AND I was released! Look for it on line or in your favorite bookstore.
When I was fourteen years old, my father and I crossed the Mexican/ USA border. I still remember those new shoes that my mother sent me from the United Stated. My shoes traveled with me all the way from El Salvador. At the end of the long and tiring journey my shoes had holes everywhere. In MY SHOES AND I, I am telling my story and the stories of thousands of children who need to cross borders in order to accomplish their dreams. Fabricio Vanden Broeck illustrated the book using the retablo's style. My Shoes and I was published by Boyds Mills.
Here is the text of the first scene:
For Christmas, Mamá sent me a new pair of shoes from the United States.
I love my new shoes. They walk everywhere I walk. They jump every time I jump. They run as fast as me. We always cross the finish line at the same time.
“Mario, these are very good shoes for the trip,” Papá says.
Papá tells me that it is a very long trip. We need to cross three countries. But no matter how long the trip will be, I will get there. My shoes will take me anywhere.
Rene Colato Lainez is the Salvadoran award-winning author of many children’s books. In 1985, René, his shoes, and his father left El Salvador to come to the United States. Now, René lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a teacher.
Fabricio Vanden Broeck has illustrated a number of books for children. He teaches at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, where he lives.
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH/ DEL NORTE AL SUR
When his mother is sent back to Mexico for not having the proper immigration papers, José and his father travel from San Diego, California, to visit her in Tijuana.
The book is coming out in September. It will be published by Children's Book Press. The illustrator is Joe Cepeda. This is such an amazing story!
February 1, 2009
Written by René Colato Laínez
Illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck
Boyds Mills Press
Reading level: Ages 4-8
School & Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590783859
ISBN-13: 978-1590783856
A timely and inspiring story
Mario is leaving his home in El Salvador. With his father by his side, he is going north to join his mother, who lives in the United States. She has sent Mario a new pair of shoes, and he is thrilled. He will need good shoes because the trip will be long and hard. He and his father will cross the borders of three countries. They will walk for miles, ride buses, climb mountains and wade a river.
Mario has faith in his shoes. He believes they will take him anywhere. On this day, he wants to go to the United States, where his family will be reunited.
René Colato Laínez’s inspiring story, dramatically illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck, vividly portrays a boy who strives to reach a new land and a new life.
My sincerest thanks again to René for helping the 26 Latino students in deepening and experiencing something that all kids benefit from--communicating and communing with an author while reading his new book.
And once more, as an experienced bilingual teacher, I highly recommend My Shoes & I to every teacher, Latino or not, who works with any students, to help them connect to the immigrant experience.
Maestro RudyG