¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A.

In support of Los Angeles Teachers

Written by Diana Cohn

Illustrated by Francisco Delgado

•             Age Range: 5 - 7 years
•             Grade Level: Kindergarten - 2
•             Paperback: 32 pages
•             Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press; Bilingual edition
•             Language: English, Spanish
•             ISBN-10: 093831789X
•             ISBN-13: 978-0938317890

Carlitos’ mother is a janitor. Every night, he sleeps while his mother cleans in one of the skyscrapers in downtown L.A. When she comes home, she waves Carlitos off to school before she goes to sleep. One night, his mamá explains that she can’t make enough money to support him and his abuelita the way they need unless she makes more money as a janitor. She and the other janitors have decided to go on strike.

Will he support her and help her all he can? Of course, Carlitos wants to help but he cannot think of a way until his teacher, Miss Lopez, explains in class how her own grandfather had fought for better wages for farmworkers when he first came to the United States. Finally, Carlitos knows how he can show his mamá how proud he is of her. He and the other children in his class make posters and Carlitos joins the marchers with a very special sign for his mom!

¡Sí, Se Puede! is a Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book, a Skipping Stones Honor Book, as well as a selection for The Best of Beyond Difference, a recommended list of the top 10 diversity books published in 2002.

Diana Cohn, the author, is a social activist. As an elementary teacher, she discovered there were few books for children that discussed social issues, so she began to write as an avocation. She now works as Program Director for the Solidago Foundation, a foundation that supports communities working for economic and environmental justice. She lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California.

Francisco Delgado, the illustrator, grew up in Juárez, Chihuahua, but completed high school in El Paso, Texas. He will -receive his MFA at Yale in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking in May 2002. Francisco is becoming known nationally for his political paintings that satirize U.S. icons blind to the mestizo and immigrant communities of Mexico. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Luis J. Rodriguez (Always Running) adds the afterword and a poem.

BIRDIE'S BEAUTY PARLOR

By Lee Merrill Byrd  

Illustrated by Francisco Delgado 

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - 2
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press; Bilingual edition (February 13,  2018)
• ISBN-10: 194102680X
• ISBN-13: 978-1941026809

Birdie and Grandma are having a girls’ day! They must have had fun because Grandma’s all worn out now. Birdie has a solution: a makeover! It’ll give Grandma a chance to relax. Birdie insists that Grandma lie down because this beauty parlor has a lot of moving parts—chinny-chin-chin hair removal, long stretches of blush, slashes of lipstick, and eyeshadow. Earrings, scarves, the works! Birdie knows best: she owns this beauty parlor!

Birdie’s Beauty Parlor is the second collaboration between Lee Byrd and Francisco Delgado. Lee tells the stories of her grandchildren, but the images belong to Francisco’s kids.

Lee Merrill Byrd is the co-publisher of Cinco Puntos Press so she can, without hesitation, write and publish books about her grandchildren who—she claims—are brilliant and beautiful. Her previous picture books, Treasure on Gold Street and Juanito Counts to Ten, featured Hannah and John Andrew. Lee is the author of Riley’s Fire (Algonquin) and My Sister Disappears (SMU Press).

Francisco Delgado, a fronterizo artist, was born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in 1974. He received his MFA from the Yale School of Art. His paintings have been on book covers, in national art exhibits, private collections and community institutions. Delgado’s picture books include ¡Si, Se Puede! and Juanito Counts to Ten. He also provided the illustrations for Out of Their Minds, by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite.

Juanito Counts to Ten: A Bilingual Counting Book

 

Written by Lee Merrill Byrd

Illustrated by  Francisco Delgado

•             Age Range: 4 - 9 years
•             Grade Level: Preschool - 3
•             Paperback: 32 pages
•             Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
•             Language: English, Spanish
•             ISBN-10: 1933693126
•             ISBN-13: 978-1933693125

Parents, teachers, and grandparents are always asking Cinco Puntos for bilingual early readers for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. They want fun books that give kids a delicious feel for the Spanish and English languages. And what could be more fun and delicious than counting kisses? Novelist and children’s book author Lee Merrill Byrd was inspired to write this book one morning when she watched her own four-year-old grandchild Johnny. He was so happy and full of life that he was dishing out kisses for everybody and everything. He kissed his mother, he kissed his father, he kissed Stray Gray the Cat, and of course he kissed his grandmother! He was so happy he even kissed his bossy big sister. That morning he earned the nickname Lover Boy!

Lee Merrill Byrd loves what happens when her grandchildren wander through their bilingual neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. Her first children’s book, Treasure on Gold Street, followed her granddaughter Hannah. Now it’s little Johnny’s turn.

Francisco Delgado, a fronterizo artist, was born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in 1974. Through out his life he has resided in both twin cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Delgado’s artworks reflect the United States and Mexican Border life and speak to the working class of the barrios. His visual language often uses iconic figures like El Chapulin Colorado, George W. Bush, Tin Tan, Lady Liberty, and Luchadores among many others to convey his political narrative. Even though his body of work is political and his message is direct it is delivered with the dark sarcasm and humor that is often found in Mexican, Chicano and Fronterizo Cultures. He attended the University of Texas at El Paso where he received several honorary awards and a BFA. He received his MFA from the Yale School of Art. His paintings have been on book covers, in national art exhibits, private collections and community institutions. Delgado’s first picture book was, Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! And his second book, Juanito Counts to Ten.

Review

"A winning story of love of family and friends." —Kirkus Reviews

"A welcome addition to family, school, and community library bilingual book collections for children, Lover Boy / Juanito el Cariñoso is very highly recommended as a fun and entertaining guide to counting in English and Spanish." —Midwest Book Review

"Byrd and Delgado present a very artistic—and yet very fun-loving—little counting book…Highly recommended for bookstores and libraries." —Críticas

"The enthusiastic text is well adapted by the translator… Delgado's saturated-color artwork is equally exuberant as it portrays a representative Southwestern Latino family. In a market replete with clever concept books, this one will no doubt find its special niche."—School Library Journal

"What a delightful book!" —Oneonta

"The author of the book, Lee Merril Byrd, does an awesome job of helping little ones learn how to count in both English and Spanish…Francisco Delgado’s illustrations are vibrant and the kisses come to life."—SpanglishBaby.com

"Uses kisses in the form of big hearts to count sequentially from one to ten in English and Spanish."—Review of Texas Books