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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 apellidosandI 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
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.
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
0 Comments on PaperTigers’ Global Voices: René Colato Laínez (USA/El Salvador) as of 1/1/1900
Later today we will be launching a new feature here on the PaperTigers’ blog entitled Global Voices. Each month we will be inviting a guest to join us and write three blog posts. The posts will be published on three consecutive Wednesdays within each month under the title “Global Voices”. Our guests, located around the world, are all involved in the world of kid and YA lit and include award winning authors and illustrators, bloggers, librarians, educators and more! It is our hope that through the Global Voices posts we can better highlight the world of multicultural kid lit and YA lit in different countries around the world. The Global Voices line-up for May, June and July is:
Holly Thompson (Japan/USA)
Holly Thompson was raised in New England and is a longtime resident of Japan. Her verse novel Orchards(Delacorte/Random House) won the 2012 APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and is a YALSA 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults title. She recently edited Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction—An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories (Stone Bridge Press), and her next verse novel The Language Inside (Delacorte/Random House) will be published in 2013. Her picture book The Wakame Gatherers was selected by the National Council for the Social Studies in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council as ‘A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2009′. Holly teaches creative writing at Yokohama City University and serves as the regional advisor of the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Visit her website: www.hatbooks.com
Tarie Sabido (Philippines)
Tarie is a lecturer of writing and literature in the Philippines and blogs about children’s and young adult literature at Into the Wardrobe and Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind. She is also on the staff of Color Online, a blog about women writers of color for children, young adults and adults. Tarie was a judge for the 2009 Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (CYBILS) and the 2010 Philippine National Children’s Book Awards. At the 2010 Asian Festival of Children’s Content, Tarie and I joined Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal in the panel discussion Building a Nation of Readers via Web 2.0: An Introduction to the Kidlitosphere and the YA Blogsphere.
René Colato Laínez (El Salvador/USA)
René Colato Laínez was born in El Salvador. At the age of fourteen he moved to the United States, where he later completed the MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults at the Vermont College. René is the author of I Am
0 Comments on Stay tuned for an exciting new feature on our blog: Global Voices! as of 1/1/1900
Good stuff this edition and it's a long one - Ernesto Cardenal makes a rare visit to Denver for a celebration of his new book. XicanIndie XIII is up and running - my post, thanks to Tanya over at Su Teatro, includes a schedule, summaries of the films, trailers, and details about the festival, now a mainstay of the Denver cultural scene. Finally, two close friends of La Bloga are up for a book award - how cool is that?
Ernesto Cardenal, widely acknowledged as Latin America's greatest living poet, continues to craft works of striking beauty, as demonstrated in this collection’s title poem, an exquisite meditation on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Among the twenty new poems included here are many appearing for the first time in English, some for the first time anywhere. Cardenal has also added new cantigas, or cantos, to supplement his book-length masterpiece, Cosmic Canticle. “There is order even in the foam of a torrent,” affirms Cardenal. Evolution, natural selection, existence, and purpose figure into this complex symphony. In his characteristic blend of poetry, politics, and prayer, he grapples with elemental questions of life, delivering a thought-provoking, joyous vision of an earthly paradise in which humanity must find its role and calling.
Cardenal epitomizes what makes literature live in Central America today. —Booklist One of the world’s major poets. —Choice Cardenal is a major epic-histocial poet, in the grand lineage of Central American prophet Rubén Dario. —Allen Ginsberg One of the most influential (and controversial) poets of his generation. —Robert Hass
Praise for The Origin of Species and Other Poems The crowning work in the long career of this well-known Latin American poet . . . [whose] revolutionary fire is still evident, but it's subsumed in the subjects of the poems rather than manifest[ed] in slogans. —Ed Ochester A Whitmanic embrace and . . . a timely political resonance with a particularly difficult and broken-hearted new century. —Anne Waldman, from the foreword
The author of more than thirty-five books, many translated into multiple languages, Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1965. His studies with Trappist monk Thomas Merton and his involvement with the Sandinista movement in his home country have informed his writing and political activism. He lives in
2 Comments on Ernesto Cardenal Visits Denver - XicanIndie XIII - Book Awards, last added: 4/11/2011
I wanted to comment on the presentation by Brenda Cardenas. She did a really good job of keeping the audience interested in what she was talking about, especially with her humor, while still conveying a ton of information. Not only did she read some of her comical poetry, but she also shared the work of others. I especially liked the poem "Oh What a nice day to be aqui en Sears, Miss Conception." It showed the importance of code-switching and how using both English and Spanish creates much irony and humor. Rockhurst was extremely lucky to get the opportunity to see her presentation!
Nick Johnson said, on 4/11/2011 12:30:00 PM
I'd like to comment on what seems like the ever-growing community of Latino writers and artists in the Kansas City area. I think the expansion of this literary area is incredible, and wouldn't be possible without informative medians such as La Bloga and the work of the artists.
Furthermore, it seems that the artists themselves take an impassioned interest in promoting the work of others. Both Xanath and Mr. Faus have worked to grow Latino literature in art in the area by organizing and directing literary and art events. In my limited experience with the LWC the authors have been very willing to share their work and encourage others to do so.
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.
0 Comments on Video clip from the First Children’s Poetry Festival~ El Salvador as of 1/1/1900
As Aline mentioned in her post below, “Claiming Face” on Hispanic Heritage Month, Children’s Book Press will be celebrating their 35th Anniversary this fall. The anniversary celebrations will kick-off on September 26th with a free family-oriented public event at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin St. @ Grove, San Francisco, CA, USA) between 2:00 to 4:00 pm. There, Children’s Book Press will celebrate its dynamic community authors, artists, supporters, partners, and the many friends who have been part of a long and nationally renowned publishing history. With music provided by the 14-piece youth salsa band, Futuro Picante, this event will also highlight two new books published this year, with readings by René Colato Laínez, author of From North to South / Del Norte al Sur and Angela Domínguez, illustrator of Let Me Help! /¡Quiero ayudar! Light refreshments will be served. RSVP on Facebook or email publicity(at)childrensbookpress(dot)org
On October 7 at 7:00pm, Children’s Book Press will be holding No Small Matter: A Fundraiser for Children’s Book Press at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). This event will honor Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for his work exploring the American identity, and Children’s Book Press founder Harriet Rohmer for her vision and legacy. Attendees will enjoy they dynamic artistry of Gregangelo & Velocity Circus, featuring whirling dervishes, contortionists and images taken from Children’s Book Press’ anthology, On My Block. The event will close with the swirling colors and pounding rhythms of Non Stop Bhangra, a dance troupe that combines traditional Punjabi folk music with hip hop, reggae, and electronica. Former California State Senator Art Torres will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Tickets are $70/person and can be purchased here.
0 Comments on Children’s Book Press 25th Anniversary Celebration~ Sep 26, San Francisco, CA, USA as of 1/1/1900
We are looking forward to the release of From North to South / Del Norte al Sur, by René Colate Laínez, due out in September by Children’s Book Press. René has written many children’s books about the immigrant experience, such as I am René and René Has Two Last Names, always drawing on his experience of coming to the United States, as an adolescent, from civil war–ravaged El Salvador (he arrived as an undocumented immigrant and is now a US citizen). From North to South deals with the issue of family separation, due to a parent’s precarious immigration status, from the perspective of child who, as is the case in these situations, has no say in it. With the immigration debate in the US being as heated as it is now, this is an important and very timely release.
Spanish speakers can see a video of René talking about the book here. I’ll be adding a link to our review of the book as soon as it’s live.
0 Comments on The immigration debate and From North to South/Del Norte al Sur as of 1/1/1900
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 c0-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 a
0 Comments on 1st Annual Children’s Poetry Festival to be held in El Salvador, Nov 8 – 10 as of 1/1/1900
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
1 Comments on "Writing from My Immigrant Experience," by René Colato Laínez, last added: 3/8/2010
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.
3 Comments on My Shoes and I, last added: 1/6/2010
Felicidades, Rene! Beautiful illustrations. Can't wait to get your "Shoes.' Y prospero 2010! Post your Jan. schedule for your virtual tour with Latino Book Tours. Love to visit with you then. Abrazo, Lucha
This book is very special. I am telling my own journey from El Salvador to the United States. My shoes were my best friends during that long and tiring trip.
LYDIA GIL: Tell us a bit about your literary background and how it intersects with your legal background.
DANIEL OLIVAS: I majored in English Literature at Stanford University but, instead of continuing along that track, I went to law school at UCLA. I have been a lawyer with the California Department of Justice for the last twenty years where I have worked on cases in the areas of antitrust, environmental law, and consumer protection. I started writing fiction rather late in life at the age of 39 in 1998. Now, over ten years later, I’ve had five books of fiction published, edited an anthology, with two more books on the way in the next two years. My legal background intersects with my literary background primarily in the kind of people who populate my fiction: my characters (who are mostly Chicano and Mexican) come from all walks of life, from people who work with their hands to lawyers and judges. Also, because I am a trained lawyer who works with words all the time, I’m a very fast and efficient fiction writer. I never suffer from writer’s block. A lawyer can never say: “Oh no! I can’t finish this brief!” You have to get it done. I have the same approach with fiction writing. A blank computer screen does not scare me.
LG: How did your recently published collection of short stories, Anytwhere But L.A., come about?
DO: I found that throughout the last few years, many of my stories involved characters who had escaped Los Angeles (my hometown), wanted to escape the city, or simply had no connection to L.A. I like to have a theme for my collections (this is my third story collection), so I pulled together the stories and found the title in the words of one of my characters in the story “San Diego” to be a perfect fit. He utters the words, “Anywhere but L.A.,” after his wife has died and he needed to escape the city because everything reminded him of his wife. Also, I think natives of Los Angeles have a love-hate relationship with the city. It has so much to offer yet it can be maddening in terms of traffic, crime and smog.
LG: I'm not familiar with your earlier work (except your book for children, which my daughter loves). Is there a thread that runs throughout your work, or is each project completely different in nature and execution?
DO: If you were to look at all of my books, I think you would find that I’m not afraid to confront tough issues such as racism, sexism, dysfunctional families. But I often use humor in my stories even as I write about matters that normally would not be humorous. In the end, the important thing is to tell a compelling story and not be predictable. I think fiction should disturb the reader, in every sense of the word.
LG: What role does the "city" play in your writing? Is it necessarily tied to the Latino experience?
DO: I think that city life in the United States has allowed Latinos to thrive in ways that other settings have not. My grandparents came to Los Angeles in the 1920s and made a good living even though they had little education. My father’s father was a cook. My mother’s parents worked in a laundry. My parents took advantage of the low-cost city college system to improve their lives. In the mid-1960s, with five young children at home, my parents went to community colle
2 Comments on Interview with Daniel Olivas, last added: 12/24/2009
Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize genocide we send a critical message to the world. As we continue to live in an age of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we must repel the broken ethics of our ancestors, or risk a dreadful repeat of past transgressions. We know from captured German war records that millions of innocent Jews were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany - most in gas chambers. These facts have been proven repeatedly through countless thesis and dissertation research papers. Virtually every PhD in the world will stake their career on the veracity of known Holocaust facts. Despite this knowledge, Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. Such deniers have only one agenda - to distort the truth in a way that promotes antagonism against the object of their hatred, or to deny the culpability of their ancestors and heroes.
Museums and mandatory public education are tools to dispel bigotry, especially racial and ethnic hatred. Books and films can reinforce the truth of past and present genocides. They help to tell the true story of the perpetrators of genocide; and they reveal the abject terror, humiliation and degradation resulting from blind loathing and prejudice. It is therefore essential that we disclose the factual brutality and horror of genocide, combating the deniers’ virulent, inaccurate historical revision. We must protect vulnerable future generations from making the same mistakes.
A world that continues to allow genocide requires ethical remediation. We must show the world that religious, racial, ethnic, gender and orientation persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny's only hope. Only through such efforts can we reveal the true horror of genocide and promote the triumphant spirit of humankind.
Charles Weinblatt Author, "Jacob's Courage" http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/
Mexico is currently in the midst of its Día de los Muertos celebrations and there are some wonderful pictures appearing on various blogs, which highlight the color and exuberance of the festival – such as this at Zocalo de Mexican Folk Art; while Sue at Cottage in the Cedars recalls a past visit to Mexico and gives lots of background information. There are some great children’s books around – I blogged about some last year (including author René Colato Laínez’ as yet unpublished Magic Night, Noche Mágica). My Readable Feast has a new post about the Global Wonders dvd, with an extract to view about The Day of the Dead –it’s also worth scrolling down through the tag to her previous posts too, both for suggestions for children’s books and to see some very impressive home-made sugar skulls…
A new book, Abuelos, by Pat Mora and illustrated by Amelia Lau Carling (Groundwood, 2008), explores a less well-known tradition which carries traits of both Spanish and Pueblo cultures, and which is celebrated further north, in the mountains of New Mexico, around the time of the Winter solstice.
“Los abuelos” are not only grandfathers, in this context they are scary, sooty old men who come down from the mountains once a year to make sure the children have been good. At the time of the abuelos’ visit, villages have a big party, sharing music and food around a huge bonfire, and men dress up to tease the children.
In this delightful story, the preparations and the party are seen through the eyes of Amelia, our narrator, and her older brother Ray, who have only recently moved to the village. Amelia’s feelings are mixed – she loves the excitement but she’s not completely convinced that the abuelos are wholly mythical. Her father reassures her that it’s fun to be have a scary feeling sometimes – like at Halloween – because actually “No one is going to hurt you”. Ray teases and scares Amelia unmercifully but at the actual party, she’s the one who courageously leaps in to push an abuelo away from him…
The writing and the illustrations together perfectly capture both the magic of this tradition seen through Amelia’s young eyes and the warmth of the village community set against the cold, winter landscape. Monsters loom large, whether in caves up in the snowy mountains, or in the form of masked villagers – certainly all enough to convince Amelia to do anything her mother asks her straight away!
This is a great new addition to the bookshelf, whether for a cosy winter’s bedtime or for those in hotter climes wanting to escape the mid-December heat – as Pat herself says in her author’s note at the end:
Since I’m easily frightened, I chose to write a gentle version of how I imagine a spunky little girl responding to a visit by “los abuelos.” Enjoy!
0 Comments on Books at Bedtime: Día de los Muertos and Los Abuelos as of 11/2/2008 8:27:00 PM
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.
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.”
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 
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.
In December 2010, 
Holly Thompson (Japan/USA)
Tarie Sabido (Philippines)
René Colato Laínez (El Salvador/USA)
As Aline mentioned in her post below, 
at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). This event will honor Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for his work exploring the American identity, and Children’s Book Press founder Harriet Rohmer for her vision and legacy. Attendees will enjoy they dynamic artistry of Gregangelo & Velocity Circus, featuring whirling dervishes, contortionists and images taken from Children’s Book Press’ anthology, 
I wanted to comment on the presentation by Brenda Cardenas. She did a really good job of keeping the audience interested in what she was talking about, especially with her humor, while still conveying a ton of information. Not only did she read some of her comical poetry, but she also shared the work of others. I especially liked the poem "Oh What a nice day to be aqui en Sears, Miss Conception." It showed the importance of code-switching and how using both English and Spanish creates much irony and humor. Rockhurst was extremely lucky to get the opportunity to see her presentation!
I'd like to comment on what seems like the ever-growing community of Latino writers and artists in the Kansas City area. I think the expansion of this literary area is incredible, and wouldn't be possible without informative medians such as La Bloga and the work of the artists.
Furthermore, it seems that the artists themselves take an impassioned interest in promoting the work of others. Both Xanath and Mr. Faus have worked to grow Latino literature in art in the area by organizing and directing literary and art events. In my limited experience with the LWC the authors have been very willing to share their work and encourage others to do so.