Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Award-Winning Children's Books

Felicidades to Xavier Garza, Carmen Tafolla and Magaly Morales


Tejas Star Book Award

The winner for 2009-2010 is Charro Claus and the Tejas Kid by Xavier Garza


The Tejas Star Book Award was created by the Region One ESC Library Advisory Committee to promote reading in general and for readers to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. All the children of Texas will have the opportunity to select their favorite book from the Tejas Star list during the month of February.

Santa needs help! Abracadabra!

A cowboy and his nephew become Charro Claus and the Tejas Kid!

Let’s welcome Santa’s newest helper: his cousin Pancho, a farmer living down in South Texas who is so smart he speaks Spanish and English. Back in the day, Pancho was a mariachi singer with a whole lot of style and a fancy sombrero. But as the years passed, Pancho got, well, a little older and a little wider all around. Then one night his primo Santa Claus showed up. Santa needed some help! Pancho volunteered. And then, poof, Santa transformed Pancho into the resplendent Charro Claus with his incredibly Flying Burritos. And Charro Claus, it turns out, even had his own surprise elf—his nephew Vincente!

All Christmas Eve, Vincente and Pancho deliver toys to the boys and girls on the border. Neither rain, cloudy skies, wire fences nor concrete walls keep them from covering every inch of their newly assigned territory. And they don’t forget a single town or city. How could they? The border is their home.


2010 Tomás Rivera Book Award

What Can You Do With A Paleta?
Written by Carmen Tafolla
Illustrated by Magaly Morales

Texas State University College of Education developed the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award to honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience. The award was established in 1995 and was named in honor of Dr. Tomas Rivera, a distinguished alumnus of Texas State University.


Where the paleta wagon
rings its tinkly bell
and carries a treasure of icy paletas
in every color of the sarape . . .



As she strolls through her barrio, a young girl introduces readers to the frozen, fruit-flavored treat that thrills Mexican and Mexican-American children. Create a masterpiece, make tough choices (strawberry or coconut?), or cool off on a warm summer's day—there's so much to do with a paleta.

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