Welcome to Litsy!

Beautifully illustrated, this poetic anthology of brave, determined, and honorable Hispanic heroes is a treat for the eyes and the soul.

#SummerEndReadathon Day 23 @TheSpineView
#RushAThon @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

#DearDecember Day 26:
“I say that each day is a poem.
Some hours are green and #peaceful.
Others are red, like festivals or storms.
I love teaching children how to tell
their own stories.”
— José Martí, Cuba
Fats‘ Poetry Friday feature here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-j92

“When my friend and I walk arm in arm, it is a wordless statement of equality, Marti‘s light skin and my dark skin side by side.”

I believe this a book that must be included in a classroom library. Without books that discuss every child‘s heritage we will never fully be able to appreciate and understand the people around us

Published in 2017- Bravo! Is a book full of short poems about Hispanics who have helped shape and change the world in some way. There are stories of first female pilots, activists for equal rights, and peacemakers. The poems do not rhyme, but they are written in small stanzas that have different emotions brought into them. One might be sad while another evokes a feeling of hope

“I survive as a rancher and healer, curing the sick with medicinal plants, and healing myself with independence.”

My favorite part about this book of poems is the emotion the individual poems bring as well as the illustrations illustrated for those poems.

Bravo! By Margarita Engle published in 2012 was a book of poems about hardships hispanic and latino cultures have. It is a very emotional piece but built with real life stories and instances to understand. One specific poem in the book is titled On My Own, and it is about a women whos husband abuses her but she survives by curing sick people and healing herself with independence. And I think that is a very strong statement! Especially for women!

In this book, Margarita Engle wrote small biographical poems about famous and less remembered Hispanics. I absolutely loved the illustrations; however, I have been disappointed in the poems. A few years ago, I read The Poet Slave of Cuba, a biography in poems of Juan Francisco Manzano by Engle, which I very much enjoyed. Here, I couldn't really connect with the poems (perhaps too short for a connection...).

Nine-year-old: “You know how some people have life heroes?”
Me: “Yeah. Do you?”
Nine: “I do after reading this book- check this out...” (George Melendez Wright, first chief of Wildlife Division for America‘s National parks)

This is why I bring books home that my kids wouldn‘t necessarily pick up on their own: My white kids need brown heroes.

#crossculturalstories

Good poetry and nonfiction for kids

Whereas Audubon shot his birds before painting them, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a Puerto Rican, I learned it to paint quickly in order for them to live. 🇵🇷

Stumbled across this poetry gem while browsing at my favorite children's bookstore in Oak Park, Il.

Perfect for poetry month but also a great addition to my collection celebrating the Latino experience.