Vámonos/ Let's Go!: Mexican Folk Art Transport in English and Spanish

Witten by Cynthia Weill

 

Art by Augustín Tinoco Cruz, Martín Melchor, Maximino Santiago and Avelino Pérez

 

Publisher: ‎Cinco Puntos Press; Bilingual edition

Language: ‎English, Spanish

Hardcover: ‎32 pages

ISBN-10: 1947627600

ISBN-13: ‎978-194762760

 

 

You're invited on a trip to a special place and there are many ways to get there. You could take a bike, a bus, or even a boat! The folk-art pieces were lovingly handmade by Oaxacan craftsmen Augustín Tinoco Cruz, Martín Melchor, Maximino Santiago, and Avelino Pérez—all of whom have longstanding relationships with Cynthia Weill. Vámonos will spark a lifelong love of languages and libraries in young readers. Grab your favorite person to read with and let's go!

 

Review

 

* This is one extraordinary picture-book journey to the library... Gorgeous, unique art makes this an illustrative standout. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

 

This title can stand alone but would be enhanced with the other titles in the collection; it’s a sure favorite for young transportation enthusiasts. –School Library Journal

 

Cynthia Weill's fascination with the crafts of Oaxaca began while she was working in Mexico as a Fulbright exchange teacher. She has published several books in the First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art series, which features different folk art of Oaxaca. Many of the figures showcased in this series are now part of the permanent Mesoamerican Anthropology collections at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Cindy lives in New York City and online at cynthiaweill.net.

  

Other books in the series 

Cynthia Weill scores again with an early concept book that bring every kind of job to life, including the work of the dedicated palm weavers of Flavio Gallardo’s workshop, whose miniature palm weavings illustrate this playful book, teaching children words for work in two languages. The weavers live in the village of Chigmecatitlán in the Mixteca part of the Mexican state of Puebla. With tremendous skill and patience, the artisans of this region practice palm weaving, a craft which came to Mexico even before the arrival of the Spanish in the early 15th century. Imagine being able to hold all of the illustrations in one book in the palms of your hands. You can do that with the tiny weavings in Let’s Work. Most pieces are no larger than a dime!

Did you know that animals that live in one country don't always talk the same language as animals from somewhere else? Take a rooster, for instance. In English-speaking countries, he says cock-a-doodle-doo when he has a notion to announce himself or to greet the dawn. But in Spanish-speaking countries, he says ki-kiri-ki. Emerging readers will delight in identifying the animals depicted on each new page. And the bilingual text invites parent and child into an interactive and playful reading experience for acting out animal sounds in English and Spanish. Craftsman Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa from the Mexican state of Oaxaca fill the pages of Animal Talk with vibrant, wildly imaginative figures of familiar animals.

Practice your numbers in English and Spanish when you count the beautiful dancers, playful musicians, and happy children of Oaxaca as the Guelaguetza parade goes by! Pronounced Gal-a-get-zah, the lively celebration—full of traditional dancing and music—takes place every July deep in the heart of southern Mexico. ONE band leader with a big white balloon! DOS hombres with firecrackers! THREE musicians! FOUR giants! All exquisitely handcrafted by the Mexican folk art masters Guillermina, Josefina, Irene, and Concepción Aguilar, in collaboration with author and scholar Cynthia Weill. ¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to the parade!

Little kids love colors, they love animals, and they love the sounds of words. Especially new words. Colores de la Vida—the third in the highly successful series First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art—combines all these elements to teach early learners about color. Leggy red giraffes, pink cows, purple rabbits—the Oaxacan folk artists who contributed to this book unleashed their imaginations and went wild with color. Young children will delight in the bright colors of the Oaxacan rainbow while folk art collectors will marvel at the whimsical handcrafts.

But the simplicity of a book like Colores de la Vida belies the years of research and thoughtful intercultural communication with third-world artists done by Cynthia Weill. As an art historian, she has always been interested in the crafts of developing nations. Weill's intention with Colores de la Vida—and its predecessors in the series, ABeCedarios and Opuestos—has been to find an educational purpose for the work of Oaxacan artisans. She hopes to open up a larger, more international market for their craft.

Cynthia Weill’s book of Mexican folk art teaches kids about opposites in Spanish and English! These whimsical little animals from Oaxaca, carved and painted by hand, make learning about opposites fun. Up and down, tall and short, left and right—all inside a beautiful book.

Delicate hand-painted animals from Oaxaca lead little ones through a bilingual alphabet.

Every ABC book worth its cover price is bound to have bright colors and big letters. But not every ABC book has magical hand-carved animals to illustrate every letter. And very few alphabet books present those letters in more varieties than English! Very few alphabet books except the ABeCedarios, that is! In this brightly colored book, the alphabet is presented in both Spanish and English, and includes the four additional letters—and whimsical animals—that make the Spanish alphabet so much fun.

Animal Talk: Mexican Folk Art Animal Sounds in English and Spanish

By Cynthia Weill

Art  by Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - 2
• Series: First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press (March 15, 2016)
• ISBN-10: 194102632X
• ISBN-13: 978-1941026328

Did you know that animals that live in one country don't always talk the same language as animals from somewhere else? Take a rooster, for instance. In English-speaking countries, he says cock-a-doodle-doo when he has a notion to announce himself or to greet the dawn. But in Spanish-speaking countries, he says ki-kiri-ki. Emerging readers will delight in identifying the animals depicted on each new page. And the bilingual text invites parent and child into an interactive and playful reading experience for acting out animal sounds in English and Spanish.

Craftsman Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa from the Mexican state of Oaxaca fill the pages of Animal Talk with vibrant, wildly imaginative figures of familiar animals.

Animal Talk is the fifth book in Cynthia Weill's charming First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art series. It is her passion to promote the work of artisans from around the world through early concept books.


  

Other books in the series 

Practice your numbers in English and Spanish when you count the beautiful dancers, playful musicians, and happy children of Oaxaca as the Guelaguetza parade goes by! Pronounced Gal-a-get-zah, the lively celebration—full of traditional dancing and music—takes place every July deep in the heart of southern Mexico. ONE band leader with a big white balloon! DOS hombres with firecrackers! THREE musicians! FOUR giants! All exquisitely handcrafted by the Mexican folk art masters Guillermina, Josefina, Irene, and Concepción Aguilar, in collaboration with author and scholar Cynthia Weill. ¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to the parade!

Little kids love colors, they love animals, and they love the sounds of words. Especially new words. Colores de la Vida—the third in the highly successful series First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art—combines all these elements to teach early learners about color. Leggy red giraffes, pink cows, purple rabbits—the Oaxacan folk artists who contributed to this book unleashed their imaginations and went wild with color. Young children will delight in the bright colors of the Oaxacan rainbow while folk art collectors will marvel at the whimsical handcrafts.

But the simplicity of a book like Colores de la Vida belies the years of research and thoughtful intercultural communication with third-world artists done by Cynthia Weill. As an art historian, she has always been interested in the crafts of developing nations. Weill's intention with Colores de la Vida—and its predecessors in the series, ABeCedarios and Opuestos—has been to find an educational purpose for the work of Oaxacan artisans. She hopes to open up a larger, more international market for their craft.

Cynthia Weill’s book of Mexican folk art teaches kids about opposites in Spanish and English! These whimsical little animals from Oaxaca, carved and painted by hand, make learning about opposites fun. Up and down, tall and short, left and right—all inside a beautiful book.

Delicate hand-painted animals from Oaxaca lead little ones through a bilingual alphabet.

Every ABC book worth its cover price is bound to have bright colors and big letters. But not every ABC book has magical hand-carved animals to illustrate every letter. And very few alphabet books present those letters in more varieties than English! Very few alphabet books except the ABeCedarios, that is! In this brightly colored book, the alphabet is presented in both Spanish and English, and includes the four additional letters—and whimsical animals—that make the Spanish alphabet so much fun.

Mi Familia Calaca/ My Skeleton Family

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

Día de los Muertos or Day of the Death is approaching. In preparation for this amazing festivity, reading Mi Familia Calaca/ My Skeleton Family by Cynthia Weill in collaboration with Oaxacan paper mache artisan Jesús Canseco Zárate is a great way to start the celebration.

Weill’s latest bilingual book gives a glance of the vast Mexican art. Anita is a young calaca girl, who introduces each member of her skeleton family.  With short and catching sentences in English and Spanish, each character reveals its beauty to the young readers. Each page shows a colorful encounter starting with Anita’s brother Miguel (el travieso/the brat), followed by her cute baby brother Juanito, then her stylish mother, next her handsome father, as well as her adorable grandparents, and last but not least her cat and dog. 

The astonishing art created by Canseco Zárate pops-out automatically like jack-in-the-box. The wonderful sculptures in paper mache are a pleasure for the senses.

Mi Familia Calaca/ My Skeleton Family is a must read for the season. Reading gives you wings. Visit your local library to check out more exciting stories.

For additional information about Cynthia Weill’s books and artisan Jesús Canseco Zárate’s calacas click on the following links:

http://www.cynthiaweill.net/

http://jesuscansecozarateblog.wordpress.com/

***

Latino/a Rising is the first collection of U.S. Latino/a science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres.

There is a growing movement of people who are interested in the incredible U.S. Latino/a writers and artists who have turned to science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres. Latino/a Rising: An Anthology of U.S. Latino/a Speculative Fictionwill introduce the public to the work of these writers and artists.

With the exception of Edward James Olmos’ Bladerunner and Battlestar Galactica, positive U.S. Latino/a characters have been largely absent from mainstream speculative fiction novels and films. Films such as Men in Black and Alien Nation, and shows such as X-Files, express the anxiety that the mainstream has concerning Latinos/as and recent immigrants.  Latino/a Rising will contest this trend, showing how Latino/a writers and artists are transforming the genres.

Please support this project  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2019038492/latino-a-rising

Count me in!

Review by Ariadna Sánchez

The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca celebrates the Guelaguetza every July. Guelaguetza means sharing. This festivity brings together the splendor of the eight regions of Oaxaca through dances, music, food, and art.

Count me in! is written by Cynthia Weill and complemented by the talented Aguilar Sisters. Count me in! is a colorful and artistic counting book with the unique and finest  ceramic figurines made by the gifted Aguilar sisters.Count me in! offers an unforgettable bilingual experience while learning numbers one through ten along the músicos, pretty danzantes and joyful niñas y niños as each page shows the traditional calenda before the Guelaguetza begins. Una marmota, an enormous white balloon held by a wooden stick, leads the parade with la banda de musica playing. Dos cueteros come along to throw firecrackers into the air. Tres músicos follow the cueteros. Cuatro monos or giants puppets bring happiness to the parade. The world-known art by Guillermina, Josefina, Irene and Concepción Aguilar will show Oaxaca’s beauty as you count from one to ten. Visit the nearest library to read this amazing book. Reading gives you wings!

The Aguilar sisters are Mexico’s most beloved artisans. They learned how to make clay figurines from their mother Isaura Álcantara Diaz. These lively independent women are considered great masters of Mexican folk art and have been presented to Queen Elizabeth, Queen Sofia of Spain, various Mexican presidents and Nelson Rockefeller. Their humorous ceramics of the people of their town and state are in museum collections worldwide.

The collection of parade figures from Count Me In was acquired by the Field Museum in Chicago for its permanent collection.                                               

Source: http://cincopuntospress.blogspot.com/2012/08/count-me-in-by-cynthia-weill.html

*For more about Aguilar Sisters of Oaxaca, check the following links:

http://www.zanzibartribalart.com/JosefinaAguilar.htm

http://www.mexicoartshow.com/aguilar.html

http://www.pinterest.com/calstott/oaxacas-aguilar-sisters/