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Krugersdorp

I'm incredibly proud of my best friend. She is, as we speak, on her way to South Africa. The trip is in connection with her former employer, Alive Hospice, Nashville, TN. Diana worked at Alive for 7 years until she moved to Georgia just over a year ago.

She became aware of the wonderful work that Hospice does when her dad became ill and needed assistance. Diana, her sister, and Hospice and Palliative Care of Southern Indiana helped make a difficult situation, bearable. She vowed to "give back" and she did; first by volunteering at Alive and then by becoming a full-time, valued employee.

But, back to the trip. Alive has a Sister Hospice in Krugersdorp. They have, through the years, raised money to send much-needed supplies to South Africa. Diana was supposed to go last year but it conflicted with her move to Georgia. This trip, as last year's, organized by Naomi Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu, will help foster even more good will between the two non-profit care facilities.

Diana should be arriving in Capetown in about three hours, after a 22-hour flight! She'll then travel to Johannasburg and then on to Hospice in the West, located in Krugersdorp, to visit with the staff.

Some side-trips include visiting the Krugersdorp Game Preserve, and touring Robben Island Prison, "home" to Nelson Mandella for much of his life sentence. He was finally released in 1990. I'm sure that trip will be a very emotional experience.

Anyway, I'm just so proud of her! At a time when many people our age are choosing to slow down a bit (I'm not judging. You're earned it!), Diana is exploring the world. And, not the world of fine Paris café's, or Greek ruins, or Bahamian white-sand beaches. She's exploring a part of the world that most of us know nothing about. She is reaching far beyond her "element." I applaud her for taking this trip of a lifetime.

So, tell me. How far would you venture from your "element?"

Cynthia's Attic

by Ann Whitford Paul
illustrated by Ethan Long
Holiday House 2007

Conejo, Iguana and Tortuga stop by the market on the way to their friend Culebra's party to purchase birthday gifts for him. Iguana thinks Culebra would like a globo but Conejo convinces him that a sombrero would make a better gift. Similarly when Tortuga considers a fine tazon Conejo insists on a camise. And when Iguana and Tortuga point out that their friend would like a nice libro Conejo instead thinks pantalones make more sense.

Conejo, being a trickster rabbit, knows that his friend Culebra is a snake and his excuses for each of the gifts -- "He can wear the pants once he grows his legs" -- allows him to appropriate the useless gifts for himself once they are opened at the party. Dressed in Culebra's hat, shirt and pants he is expelled for being a rude friend while Culebra, Iguana and Tortuga continue to enjoy the fiesta.

Shame-faced Conejo returns with proper gifts, the book, bowl and balloon originally considered at the market. Snake is happy and while the four friends settle in for some fine birthday torta they discuss whose birthday comes next. Mine! Shouts Conejo excitedly, and everyone knows exactly what to get him: a touristy outfit of a sombrero, camise and pantalones.

Telling the story with Spanish words peppered and reinforced throughout with pictures allows for an easy immersion lesson in bilingualism. It feels a bit awkward up front as the characters settle in at the market but quickly the words become familiar as the story gains it's momentum and pacing. The bright-colored cartoon illustrations are warm, humorous, and give very solid contextual clues about how the characters feel and what they are talking about.

There's a fine line between a book like this which feels like a tale told from the Mexican desert and the deliberate teaching books of Dora the Explorer. Whenever I see anything Dora I get this hinkey feeling climbing up my back, as if the books were intended to help gringo children better communicate with the children of their nannies and housekeepers. There's something that rings just a tad false about all that PBS bilingualism, even while I know that it's really intended for the Spanish speaking children in the audience. The wording and the lessons feel so deliberate in a way that the other educational programming doesn't and it sits poorly with me.

Not so much in Fiesta Fiasco, where the limited and simple vocabulary (with a pronunciation guide for parents on the copyright page) are aimed at playfully at introducing new language to readers for whom all words are new language. Like I said, it's a fine line, but one I think is well handled here in a non-pedagogical way.