Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has evolved to include live bands, poetry readings, film screenings and artists creating their work on-site.

The Festival of Books takes place on the University of Southern California campus. USC is located in the University Park neighborhood of downtown L.A. near such attractions as the California Science Center, the Natural History Museum, the Exposition Rose Garden and the California African American Museum.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books spans nearly the entire 226-acre USC Campus. The event does not provide wheelchair rentals or motorized transportation. If fatigue is a concern, please consider planning ahead and bringing a wheelchair or other aids.

The festival attracts approximately 160,000 people of all ages each year from Southern California and all around the country.

Come and say hello to these amazing authors.

A Children's Tribute to Gabriel García Márquez- My Name is Gabito

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Last week the world lost one of the most brilliant writers of the century. Gabriel García Márquez is considered a genie of modern literature. His words echo the unique and majestic essence of his intrepid spirit. García Márquez will live forever thanks to his master pieces full of imagination and beauty.

My Name is Gabito written by the award-winning author Monica Brown and delightfully illustrated by Raúl Colón depicts the childhood of the 1982 Nobel Prize Literature recipient Gabriel García Márquez.

Gabito was born on March 6, 1928 in Aracataca, Colombia. Gabito was nurtured by his grandparents along with a 100-year-old parrot named Lorenzo el Magnifico. His grandfather was an important figure for the development of Gabito’s talent.  Gabito loved learning words from his grandfather’s dictionary. Gabito realized that the more he read, the more imaginative his stories became.  Gabito witnessed the struggles of poor banana workers in his hometown. This situation created an urgent sense of justice and equal opportunity for all people. This life experience was evident in his novels because he often shared stories about the banana workers.

Gabito grew, grew, and grew. Gabito became one of the most famous Latin-American writers in the world.  As a result, Gabriel García Márquez became an international figure. Gabito wrote more than thirty books, some of his emblematic novels are Love in the Time of Cholera, Living to Tell the Tale, and the best-seller One Hundred Years of Solitude. During his lifetime, Gabito received the most prestigious awards for his merit. In 1982 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature reaffirming the remarkable gift to produce incomparable stories. Gabito married his boyhood girlfriend, Mercedes Bacha Pardo, and they had two sons named Rodrigo and Gonzalo. This is a phenomenal life for an incredible human being.

My Name is Gabito helps children learn and appreciate the extraordinary journey of Gabriel García Márquez, and it also allows them to discover the dynamism of the renowned author. His legacy will last for an eternity in our hearts and in our mind. Thanks to the Tlapazola community from Oaxaca, Mexico for spreading the legacy of the eternal Gabito.

¡Viva Gabriel García Márquez por siempre!

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My Name is Gabito/Me llamo Gabito Presentation 

for ELL Bilingual Reading Night

Monica Brown author of  "My Name Is Gabito/My llamo Gabito" talks  about how "One Hundred Years of Solitude" changed her life as a high school student. See more of the interview: http://www.colorincolorado.org/read/meet/brown/

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” Helen Keller.

February is best known as the month dedicated to love and friendship. During the following days many persons around the globe will celebrate it with roses, greetings cards, chocolates and stories.

The Tooth Fairy meets el Ratón Pérez is written by René Colato Laínez and illustrated by Tom Lintern. When we learn to share, we break out of the boundaries of our ego and recognize the humanity of the other. At the end of the story, young readers will discover that "sharing is caring."

Miguelito is a Mexican-American boy who loss his tooth and places it under his pillow. That night, the Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez arrive for Miguelito's tooth. El Ratón Pérez and the Tooth Fairy are among the most beloved childhood characters. The expectation that these characters generate is incredible. A radiant coin is what boys and girls expect the next morning under their pillows. Colato Laínez has the ability to portray in a marvelous and hilarious way the cultural encounter that occurred when the Tooth Fairy meets El Ratón Pérez. The folktale goes beyond the coins that either both characters could place under Miguelito's pillow. The story guides the young readers toward a huge message that focus on teamwork, the power of an effective communication and tolerance.  El diente as El Ratón Pérez refers to the tooth help him as fashion rocket to visit the moon. While for the Tooth Fairy, she will use it to build her sparkling castle.

After working out their differences the Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez strongly agree that Miguelito deserves a nice and special surprise. They decided to leave Miguelito 2 shiny coins.

This beautiful story helps the children to embrace their culture while learning the importance of experimenting two cultures at the same time.

Immigration creates a unique experience that has a big impact in our children lives. For more amazing stories run to your nearest local library today. Remember that reading gives you wings!

Dragons Love Tacos

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Would you like to eat a crunchy taco?

Do you want it with beef, pork, or chicken?

Do I add lettuce, cheese and spicy salsa? What?

You don’t know what a taco is?

Well, don’t worry because by the time you finish reading Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri you will be a taco expert.  The book is a hilarious story about dragons who love crunchy and tasty tacos (without spicy salsa).

Can you imagine a taco without spicy salsa? I don’t.  I personally like tacos with the super-hot spicy salsa. Yum, Yum.

Dragons Love Tacos is a delicious story about a young boy and his dog. One day, they decide to organize a taco party for Dragons. They take care of the planning and the preparation of the tacos. All ingredients are fresh and the toppings are mild because remember, the dragons don’t like spicy salsa. Everything is ready at the biggest and coolest taco party ever. Just as the dragons get ready to eat, one of them gets a bottle of mild salsa to put on the tacos. However, the fine print reads “now with spicy jalapeño peppers.” The boy tells the dragons not to eat the tacos, but it is too late because the dragons’ ears begin smoking like the crater of a volcano. Flames come out the dragons’ mouths burning down the boy’s house.

The good news is that the dragons help rebuild the boy’s house. The boy doesn’t know if the dragons are helping him because they are good Samaritans, feel bad for destroying the house or want to eat tacos during the break. After all, dragons love tacos.

For more delightful adventures, head to your nearest library and check out other delectable stories to read with your family today. Remember that reading gives you wings.

Round is a Tortilla

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Apple pies have the shape of a circle

Street signs have the shape of a rectangle

Grapes have the shape of an oval

Trash cans have the shape of a cylinder

Oh my, oh my! Our world is like a giant cube

Where geometry rules

Everywhere you go, you will find shapes. Shapes come in different sizes, colors, and styles. Funny, fancy, artistic, modern and vintage, even our food is part of the huge world of shapes. Yum!!!

Round is a Tortilla is a book about shapes written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and illustrated by John Parra. This fabulous story is an excellent option to read with infants and preschool children. Experience the unique journey of shapes along the tasty food and colorful images that resemble the Latin American culture. From the sweet tortillas to the succulent paletas. The vivid paintings stand out allowing the young readers to learn by observing.  The easy to follow text guides the children to an adventure of culture and knowledge.

Triangular is a tortilla chip

Rectangular is a tamal

Squared is a piece of chocolate

Round is a juicy toronja

Shapes can really turn into a delicious experience.

Visit your local library today and enjoy the benefits of the exciting world of adventures. Don't forget to search for more shapes around you.  Reading gives you wings. Read this book today!

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The Yuyi Morales Merit Scholarship

The Children's Book Academy is proud to offer merit scholarships for writers and illustrators of color or identifying as LBGQTI currently underrepresented in the children's publishing industry.  We want to help support increased diversity in the field, and are offering merit-based scholarships to help improve cultural representation to reflect the true make-up of the United States!  First up we are offering several full scholarships to the interactive online Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books e-Course and 5 half-off scholarships. 

For more information about the merit scholarship visit,

:http://www.picturebookacademy.com/yuyi-morales-scholarship-information.html

Maria had a little llama

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Maria had a little llama,

Little llama, little llama,

Maria had a little llama,

Its fleece was white as snow.

This sounds great, don’t you think?

Maria had a little llama is written and illustrated by Angela Dominguez. This story is an attractive twist to the classic rhyme Mary had a little lamb.

Angela Dominguez gives this popular rhyme a unique Latin American touch. The beautiful Peruvian paintings portray the essence of this wonderful country.

Maria had a little llama is a bilingual book that can be read in English and Spanish. The children will love Maria and her white llama. Maria loves music. She plays the pan flute while her llama follows her everywhere Maria goes.

One day, Maria walks to school and the llama comes after her. Maria knows that her llama cannot be inside the classroom due to school rules. However, the intrepid llama follows Maria to the classroom. Maria’s classmates laugh, touch and play with the little llama. The fun ends when the teacher arrives and takes the llama out of the school. The llama waits very patiently until Maria comes out of the school. Maria and her llama are really true friends.

Visit your local library and check out this book today. Encouraging positive values to new generations will create a better and rich community. A friend is like having a treasure. Remember that reading gives you wigs!

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PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working 

Writer Fellowship ($5,000)

The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship of $5,000 is offered annually to an author of children's or young-adult fiction. The Fellowship has been developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber but who have not yet attracted a broad readership. The Fellowship is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length work-in-progress. 

The Fellowship is made possible by a substantial contribution from PEN Member Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the prolific author of more than 125 works of fiction, including the novels Alice in the Know, the 21st and most recent in the acclaimed "Alice" series, as well as Sang Spell and Shiloh, the first novel in a trilogy, which won the 1992 Newbery Medal.

For more information visit http://www.pen.org/content/penphyllis-naylor-working-writer-fellowship-5000

Los Reyes Magos de Oriente

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Feliz Año Nuevo Bloga readers!

Today, I have the honor to present to you the Oaxacan Barefoot Basketball Champions. These children are from the Indigenous Triqui region of Oaxaca, Mexico. For the last three years, these children have touched the lives of many people for the courage they show on the basketball court and in their daily lives. Thanks to their accomplishments in Latin America and the United States, many children around the world begin to see them as role models. After spending a couple of weeks in California, they went back to their native Oaxaca, Mexico. They will arrive just in time to celebrate the festivity of The Three Wise Men.

The Barefoot Giants from Oaxaca present to you today Los Reyes Magos de Oriente written by Lluís Farré and Mercè Canals. This book narrates the journey of the Three Wise Men from their distant lands to Bethlehem where baby Jesus was born.

Bring a smile to a child by reading this poetic book about the Three Wise Men. Reading gives you winds. ¡Prospero 2014!

Tamalitos

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Happy Holidays! Christmas is a time to celebrate with family and friends surrounded by the spirit of love, peace and happiness. Christmas is an occasion filled with hope, good wishes and delicious food.

Today’s book is Tamalitos written by the award winning Salvadoran poet and writer Jorge Telt Argueta and illustrated by Domi. To read the poems in this book is a succulent experience. Reading Tamalitos today could turn your Christmas evening into a delicious family moment. Argueta’s delightful poems are an invitation to embrace the importance of traditions with a tasty approach. Each poem guides the young reader to get involved in the art of making a unique and appetizing tamal.

Tamales first appeared in the early 7000 B.C. in Pre-Columbian history when the Aztec women served as cooks for the armies during battles. There was a need to have a more portable yet sustainable food and the tamales could be made ahead of time, packed and warmed as needed.

Tamales have changed in size, color, shape, and filling, depending on the location and the resources available. The wrappings varied from cornhusks, to soft tree bark, to edible leaves, such as those from avocados and bananas.  A tamalis mainly composed of masa (hominy flour dough) spread on a corn shuck and filled with either chicken, pork, beef, green chile, cheese, or, more recently, vegetables.

The preparation of tamales is time and labor consuming. The tamale making process takes almost all day and preparations often start one or two days prior. Some families associated the tamales with the Christmas holidays and some other special occasions. 

Today, the influence of the tamales has expanded beyond the Latino community and is loved by all cultures. If you or your family is having tamales for dinner, hopefully you will appreciate not only the time and effort that went into making them, but also the history behind it.

¡Feliz Navidad! Reading gives you wings. Read this mouthwatering book today.