There has been such a great welcoming to Niño Wrestles the World, and while we get ready for the book party this weekend, here are a few posting about the book:

The Horn Book included Niño into this article about the blend between imagination and reality in picture books.

Julie Danielson, the author of the 7-IMP blog made a nicely detailed review of Niño, and later featured some thumbnails, sketches, and other bits of the process of making the images for Niño.

Here is the Kirkus review
And here a starred review at Publishers Weekly


I hope you enjoy these.

8 ways to join the World Book and Copyright day celebration (recommended by the UNESCO):

1. Download books published over 100 years ago on Kindle, they’re free.
2. Share your passion for an author and offer his book to people around you.
3. Take this opportunity to discover something new from what you're used to read.
4. Leave a book on a park bench or a metro seat with a note saying “Happy Book and Copyright Day!”
5. Find out how to send your old books to schools and libraries in countries facing a post-disaster situation.
6. Educate yourself on books pirating: respect for copyright encourages the dissemination of knowledge and rewards their creators and publishers.
7. Never throw away your books, get involved in local community or online book swapping and donation campaigns and initiatives.
8. Plan local reading events in schools and libraries and encourage famous guest readers to get involved.

Getting ready for the Quiceañera!

It is only a few hours before I fly to New Orleans for an grand ALA celebration.
If you are around, here are a few places where you will find me:

Saturday, June 25
9:30-11 am, Maya Soetoro-Ng and I will be signing Ladder to the Moon in the Candlewick booth #1023
12:00-1:30pm, Maya and I will be speaking at Many Voices, One Nation, at the Hotel Monteleone --Queen Anne Br.
3:00-4:00pm. Signing in the HMH booth #1539-1540

Sunday, June 26
a great day!
1:00-4-00pm The Pura Belpre Award celebrates ist 15th aniversary with a big "Quinceañera" party. (convention Center-RM 293-296).
7:00pm. Caldecolt/Newberry Awards Banquet, including a reception with a Red Carpet event.

Who want s to come with me?

Ladder to the Moon Preview

In just a few more hours, on Tuesday 12, the newest book I have illustrated, LADDER TO THE MOON, written by Maya Soetoro-Ng, will be released in stores. To mark the day my publisher has released a book preview where you can take a look a some of the first pages of the book.
On my side, I have added A LADDER TO THE MOON page to my website with some information and links related to the book. Tomorrow nigh I will be with friends welcoming the new publication. May you join me.

Happy Cesar Chavez Day

We are celebrating Cesar Chavez birthday with a day of service.

Here are some resources for today, offerings of mine:

Family activities:While growing up, Cesar Chavez learned important lesson from his parents. When he was ten, he and his family became migrants, working on farms where they earned barely enough money to survive. But Cesar believed in change; as an adult he overcame his shyness and dedicated his life to uniting people in a nonviolent fight for justice. Click here for a page of Family Activities

A teacher's guide:Cesar Chavez is known as one of America's greatest civil rights leaders. When he led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause that improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn't always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and was often teased at school. His family slaved in the fields, earning barely enough money to survive. Cesar believed such conditions had to change. He thought that, maybe, he could bring about those changes. So he took charge. He spoke up, and an entire country listened.
Click here for a Harvesting Hope teacher's guide

Activity pages: this can be downloaded, printed, and shared. Click here for these activities.

Happy serving. Happy day.

New Year in Mexico

It had been fifteen years since I last visited Mexico in December. This year I couldn't miss it; my sister Elizabeth was been inaugurated as the first woman Mayor of our hometown , Xalapa, the state capital of Veracruz. In addition, my mother was inaugurated as the president of the municipal DIF, a position traditionally given to Mayor's spouses. But my mother is perfect for the task, and this time the DIF would be getting its hardest worker ever. I know it because I know my mom.

During my time there I managed to do most of the following:

Run in the Xalapa Stadium.
Eat bread from Xico.
Walk from Xalapa to Coatepec.
Learn that there is a clown's school in Puebla.
Make a silver key for my next book.
Travel to San Miguel de Allende.
Visit Rafael Lopez and his family.
Make Quetzaly sleep.
Work at the Esdrujuluz studio.
See my cousins that I hadn't see in nearly 30 years.
Take African dance class with Huicho.
Celebrate Dia de Reyes with my family.
Watch the ALA youth media award announcements (which can still be watched here)
Witness children strip their shirts in order to win a dancing contest.
Visit with my mother the Aldea, the boy's home in Xalapa.
See my prima Vanessa again.
Sleep under a mountain of blankets in Mo's house.
Find the Amarillo Gallery open, at last!
Gain two pounds. Sigh.

But since nothing tells a story better than images, here is a slide show of some of the pictures I took with my phone. The music is from Grupo Bermudas, No Voy a Trabajar. I might not need to point out that, once more, I left my heart in Mexico.

Birthday celebration with necklaces

When I went to Texas in October, my school host and escort introduced me to the work of Gabriela Sanchez. I would very much have like one of Gabriela necklaces as my birthday present last week. My husband bought me instead tiny saws, dug out from his tool box an small electric hand drill, and bought me a package of Silver Clay. And so for my birthday I made me birthday necklaces.

I drew the design, a burrito piñata and two flaming hearts. The Precious Metal Clay comes in a small quantity of material not much bigger than a piece of chewing gum. It is very sticky too. I cut the design with an X-acto knife, and then cleaned it with a rubber stick.

I let them dry until next day. They still needed sanding and smoothing the edges.

Then, using a metal mesh I fired them on my stove for about five minutes after they get glowing pink.


Once they cooled off I brushed them with a wire brush and soapy water.


And I finally strung them with beads.

I made me two necklaces. This second one it is not silver clay but silver wire that I learned to make and shape in Mexico last summer at the Taller de Plateria in Xalapa.

It was a very happy birthday for me!

Feliz dia de los ñinos. Happy children's day

One of my favorite celebrations is today. Back in Mexico this would be a party day both at school and at home. But celebrations sometimes make me sad too. There are two sides to everything, and so there are two sides to being a child as well. Being a child is to be blessed, but it is also to be vulnerable. Being a child is to be cherished, but so is to be forgotten.

So, today in Children's Day, I am honoring children in the best way I know, sharing a book for children to be acknowledge, to be loved, to be read and to be celebrated:

Book fiesta by Pat Mora and Rafael Lopez. Winner of the 2010 Pura Belpre Medal for illustration this books is magical and inspiring. Pat has been an ardent promoter of Dia de los Niños, and a founder /dia de los Libros, and in this book she has brought the celebration to a book.

Enjoy.

Happy Cesar Chavez day

Cesar Chavez Day is a day for service. What about celebrating reading?

Here are my favorite children books about Cesar Chavez:

Cesar: Si, Se Puede!, Yes, We Can! By Carment T. Bernier-Grand and David Diaz. Beautiful heartfelt poems tell about the life and work of Cesar Chavez.



Elegy on the Death of Cesar Chavez, by Rudolfo Anaya and Gaspar Enriquez. A poem Eulogizing Cesar.


Cesar Chavez: A Hero for Everyone, by Gary Soto and Lohstoeter Lori. A book written by Gary, who is not only an iconic Chicano writer, but also the Young People Ambassador for the United Farm Workers of America.


Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, by Kathleen Krull and Yuyi Morales.
Of course, this is my most beloved book about Chavez. From the moment I got the manuscript to illustrate, I knew a blessing had fell upon me. I read the text, and the story of Cesar, for the first time one morning in my way to pick my son to school, only to find myself standing up in the street with a knot on my throat. Here was a real hero for me to honor and love.


And here a quick list of books about Farmworkers and Farmworkers life:

Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English. By Alma Flor Ada and Simon Silva
A Day’s Work. By Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler.
Radio Man: A Story in English and Spanish. Arthur Dorros and Sandra Marulanda Dorros
Calling the Doves/El Canto de las Palomas. By Juan Felipe Herrera and Elly Simmons..
The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. By Francisco Jiménez.
The Tortilla Factory/La Tortillería. By Gary Paulsen and Ruth Wright Paulsen.
First Day in Grapes. By L. King Pérez and Robert Casilla.
Esperanza Rising. By Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Happy reading.

Yes, ALA was a heaven; it was full of librarians.

Two days before the ALA conference I found out that I didn’t have a plane ticket, uh-oh! The most important event of year for me, and I wasn’t going to make it. The traveling agent said I didn’t make it clear I wanted to have a ticket to Chicago, even though I bought the tickets for my husband and my son so that they will sit next to me on the plane and be with me when I received my award. Oh, well. Fortunately, the gods of the airplanes came to my rescue and got me to ALA just in time for the celebrations.

Some of the most anticipated events at the American Library Association conference are the award ceremonies for the different children’s books categories, including the Caldecott and Newberry medals. This year I went to the conference to receive the Pura Belpre Medal for my book Just in Case: A trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book. And it was heaven!

I did not exercise, I did not tour the city, I did not shop for souvenirs; instead I ate lots of dinners with librarians, signed books at the exhibit, and found new treasures among new books.

Some incredible books I saw at the exhibit:
Stitches, by David Small. What a book! This graphic novel (not exactly for little kids) is a masterpiece. Not only David has an incredible life story to tell, but he is a master at telling it with pictures.
Chicken Dance, by Tammi Sauer and Dan Santa is a visual riot!
Then for something softer there was Henry’s Night by D. B Johnson and Linda Michelin, with its soft and luminous illustrations. Looked at it for hours.
The book I can’t wait for? The Dreamer, by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis. Could there be a most perfect match? this book isn't coming out until Spring next year. Too long to wait.
I also saw my sister Magaly’s two new books, What Can You Do with a Paleta? and A Piñata in a Pine Tree.

But, of course, my day was Sunday. The Pura Belpre Award Celebration started at 1:30. Me? I Started with a signing at 11 am, and ended up signing books after the ceremony at about 5 pm, with only a short time to get ready for attending the Caldecott and Newberry banquet that evening.

But it was all so joyful! At the Pura Belpre Ceremony I finally met Rudy Gutierrez, who not only creates striking art, but who gave a much felt acceptance speech for his Pura Belpre honor book, Papa and Me.
I also met Francisco Jiménez for the first time, and people were right. He is so gentle and noble. Amazing just like his books.

Have you ever been at a Pura Belpre celebration? If you haven’t you are missing a great fiesta. There were multicolored ornaments hanging from the ceiling, Latino books on the tables, presenters and award winners—some dressed on rebosos, Virgin of Guadalupe printed dresses; I wore huge red dangling earrings to go with the merriment. Of course there were also speeches, tears (muchas lagrimas, many of them mine), singing, and little girls dressed as Jarochas (a traditional dress from Veracruz, my state) dancing to the son Jarocho tunes.

I created the artwork for the program. This is what the art looked like:


I was the last one to receive my medal and give my acceptance speech (here you can find the list on winners). A few minutes before I also received an honor award for the narrative on my book Just in Case, but they put me at the end of the speaker’s lineup so that I could give thanks for both awards. Except my speech was a trick! Instead of giving only a speech, this year I brought an extra present for everybody; something I made with the help of friends and with mucho corazón. If you were at the ceremony you received it. If you weren’t there, you can still have it here (or here):

Invited from Yuyi Morales on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoy it!

“I wrote because I wanted to know what happened to next to people I made up”-- Neil Gaiman at his 2009 Newberry acceptance Speech.

Ethnic corazón

I could not evermore claim innocence after reading Mitali’s and Esme’s thoughts and reflections about Ethnic awards. These two women had the courage to start a conversation that others might run from. Furthermore, as they opened the forum, they inspired me to wish for a more perfect world.

I have added my thoughts to both their blogs as a response to their posting. And now I am adding them here, if only to remind myself that this conversation is valid and necessary.

Ethnic book awards: Discriminatory or Necessary?

I have received them, I have enjoyed them, I have them shine light to my work, and I have loved them.

I can only talk from my experience. I can’t claim to represent anybody else but me.

When I think about the questions that Mitali and Esme as well as other people have expressed about this awards, I don’t find myself with any answers but only more questions of my own. I confess I am partial to both sides of the equation. While I vote for inclusiveness rather than discrimination—no matter from what side—there is something I have experienced about the nature of these awards that eludes my reasoning and instead runs with my heart. Let me see if I can explain myself.

What I know from receiving these awards is that they are a celebration. People cheer, committees champion your work, put the word out, make you a party with music and all, invite everybody, give your book a medal to paste on the cover, and tell everybody to look, look, look! at your book

And so, if the function of an ethnic award like the Pura Belpre is to celebrate a writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth, why not then make the celebration broader and invite everybody to love the Latino culture and be eligible to win the award? After all , anyone who dedicates his or her time, talent, and efforts to create a great book about the Latino cultural experience, could only do it out of admiration and love for that culture, whether she or he is Latino or not. Or, is there any other reason to spend one’s precious time cranking a book about Latinos?

I understand that awards like the Pura Belpre and the Coretta Scott King award were born out of the need to encourage the work and shine light upon the otherwise obscured books of people from minorities at a time where authors and illustrators of color were everything but missing from awards like the Caldecott and the Newberry. Is it perhaps that the time has come to change things around? Have we reached the equilibrium we dream of? If not, I hope we will soon. My friend Rose tells me it is just a matter of time before love and lust erase the race lines completely. For now I find it interesting (and fortunate) that the Coretta as well as the Pura Belpre are being announced as part of the ALA crop of awards, because it is from this announcement that they receive their moment in the spotlight as well as their prestige. Were those awards to be announced in a different day or without the support of ALA, we might not be discussing them right now. Their impact upon readers would be different. And perhaps the audience looking for the result of such announcements would be different, even smaller in number.

To me the USA is a country of surprises. Anything unexpected can happen here. For instance, it was a surprise to me that here in the USA existed a book award that celebrated the efforts of people like me--multicolored skin, even Indian looking, heavy accent. I was surprised to know that all what I had believed to be against me in the past, was exactly what made me eligible. I must explain that I come from a beautiful and hardworking country that from colonial times and all the way to my parent’s generations, and more, had lived under the social unwritten code that claims that beauty comes in white skin, light hair and blue eyes, and that intelligence and reason does evade indigenous people, peasants, or anyone with dark skin. For generations we have been taught to give preference to others whiter than us. Breaking that mold has been the life work of many, many of my country people, but still there is much more to accomplish.

And yet, in my new learning, do I want people to lower the bar for me because of my history? Certainly not. I might have had a self-dubious start, but I am not without the capacity to amaze myself and others with what I do. If the ethnic awards were to disappear, or integrate, would I miss the celebration? Yes I would. Would there be other challenges to obtain? Certainly yes, because what I am is not Latina but a force.

But here is the other side. I have expressed in the past that I see the Pura Belpre Award as a regalo, a gift that is given to someone when you least expected it. At first the regalo goes to a book creator; an artist or a writer, and we receive the gift joyfully and gratefully. But after that, the gift is given to everybody. Once the award brings out the voice that there is a book worth of looking at, it is the readers who receive the gift next. In a way, the decision of the Pura Belpre committee to give an award to a person (an "ethnic" person for that matter) and not exactly to his or her book, has interesting consequences. You need to go to the schools to see it. You will understand it when you are propped in front of children—those of all possible colors, including brown, like me; who speak all kinds of languages, including Spanish like me; who perhaps struggle with their English, like I did; who feel like“tontos”, fools, unable to fit in the foreign culture, like once I did too. And then, in that moment when the teacher introduces you, and tells the audience that you have been the winner of this prestigious shiny golden medal stuck on the cover of your book, given here in the mythical United States to a person like YOU in recognition for the quality of your work, you can see it with your own eyes and your heart, that very moment when a child begins to dream that if you did it, he can do it too.

Allowing myself to be joyous

Some of the things I might allow myself to do tomorrow:

Turn on the TV before school time

Cheer

Sing

Believe in

Believe in fairytales

Clap

Love

Forget that we are only human

Surprise myself

Cry

Improvise

I am already loving tomorrow!

It Was Grandma Beetle’s Birthday—to which Señor Calavera came bringing the present she loved the most

Grandparents, crazy teens, teachers, librarians, musicians, authors, artist, children and even a dancing skeleton came to celebrate Grandma Beetle’s Party last Friday in San Francisco.

You didn’t get to come?

It is ok; here are a few things to make you feel like you were there too.

First a picture of Just in Case: A Trickster tale And Spanish Alphabet Book, which released we celebrated at the party, and which we read with the help of musician Miguel Martinez and his group

Here is Sr.Calavera’s newest video, which we showed at the party as a response to many readers who keep asking me, “But really, who is Señor Calavera?”

Well, at last, the answer!


Who Is Señor Calavera from Yuyi Morales on Vimeo.

Images of the party are here by courtesy of Photographers Taft Weber, Kelly O’Meara, and Diane N. Ennis.

I know some of you didn’t come because you had dates with a certain famous vampire. I understand. I would have liked going too. The cake was delicious--how is that?

But even if you didn’t come, you should know that I am still looking for the mysterious sender of these flowers below, which I received at the party in behalf of Grandma Beetle. Was it YOU?

Last but not least, Señor Calavera has his super-chido new website. Go check it out!

It is time to celebrate Grandma Beetle’s birthday!

Can’t come to the party? I dare you to take a quiz instead. Come on, go ahead, see if you do!

Could you?

Señor Calavera and the paparazzi

Come and check an interview with Señor Calavera at Imaginary Blog. The anticipation of Grandma Beetle’s birthday celebration this Friday keeps growing!

Cesar Chavez day of service and learning

Here are a few things to do to celebrate today Cesar Chavez birthday:

Sign the petition for a National Cesar Chavez Holiday
Learn how to build a playground in your own community
Share Cesar Chavez Day bookmarks and posters
Bring Cesar Chavez to your classroom

Take youth-action
Join a parade or celebration

Send a Cesar Chavez e-card
Be creative
Be peace

Tomas Rivera Award for Los Gatos Black on Halloween

We are going to San Marcos to receive the Tomas Rivera Book Award!

Not only is San Marcos warm and beautiful, but they make the best of celebrations.

I was there first in 2004 to receive the award for Just a Minute. The next year my husband Tim and I were brought again for the 10th anniversary celebration. All the authors and illustrators winners of the first ten years were there too. We all took turns being interviewed for a film about the award, we rode together in a big van like if we were a rock band, and we talked, had meals together, attended events galore, and were bonded for ever and until the end of the world. Here are a couple of pictures of most of us.

Alright, San Marcos, here come Marisa, Los Gatos Black and I!

Flowers in a cobalt vase

From my Editor and Henry Holt.

They know my colors.