Mexican summer production

At the silversmith workshop this year, Lalo taught me how to do lost wax work. I began carving and sculpting my pieces in wax.
A botanical sacred heart, a seashell pendant,

And a necklace with a stone insert

Lalo attached all of my pieces, and other student's productions, into a wax tree to make a plaster mold.

The melting of the silver took place in Lencho's ovens at his studio in Coatepec. Vulcano's place was invaded by wild cats. I couldn't count them all, neither pet them.


Melted silver entered the mold in a centrifugal machine


The mold accepted the silver and it looked like sushi

The water boiled instantly while it liberated the silver from the plaster mold

Now a silver tree still to be separated piece by piece. Nothing looked like silver artwork yet

but soon things began to appear...


Here the finished pieces:



My Mexican production

My friend Alex deserved to have a cumbia made to him. He would dance it, I know. That was how masses of friends from his Zumba class decided to join me and made this video for him. Yes, he is that kind of teacher who would take his shirt off in the middle of the class. Below are the lyrics.



LA CUMBIA PROMETIDA
by Yuyi morales and Kelly O


Ay, sabrocita
Esta cumbia la tengo muy bien pegadita.

Ay, sabrocita
Esta cumbia la tengo muy bien pegadita.

Es la cumbia de la Zumba que un día yo a el prometí.
Es una cuenta concentrada de virtudes y valores,
excedentes, pertinentes, ocurrentes, oponentes
que tan solo son posibles en cholos aquí presentes.

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

El es perfecto. Si
No es creído. No
Un papichulo. Si
Muy pizpireto. Yo?

El es muy guapo. Si
Comprometido. No
Conmigo zumba. Si
Solo conmigo. Hmmm...

Yo era muy bien portadita, niña buena, aerobics girl,
cuando sin ni mas ni menos escuche su regatón.
Ay chiquito, que fue eso? De repente apareció,
como bajado del cielo, llego Alex es Amor.

Los gritos fueron mi alivio, los bochornos acepte,
que el corazón se acelere , y que el sudor a mi me de.
800 calorias, cada dia el prometio,
si le muevo al merengue y le salto al hip -hop

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Tentaciones―Si
Artimañas―No
Una samba―si
La lambada. Ay Dios.

Se cree muy sexi―Si
No es celoso―No
a mi me quiere.―Si
Zumba!

Ay mamita, santa madre, no me juzgues por favor.

Es cierto que había puesto a san Antonio en un rincón,
lo tenia de cabeza y le ofrecí una oración.
La respuesta fue del cielo. Así fue como paso,
que llegara un Zumba instructor como el que quería yo.

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Mueve los hombros―Si
Shakea las nalgas.―No
Da vuelta y media.―Si
Ay, que impresión!

Da el warming up―Si
Trae substitutos―No
Tira besitos―Si
La camisa se quito!

Que puedo hacer, mamita linda, si del cielo me bajo,
un Dios tatuado, acelerado, bien peinado, muy bronceado,
acholado, PUA entrenado, zumbeando al ritmo de cumbia,
tantísima perfección.

El lo sabe de antemano, la verdad es su prisión,
que el carece de defectos la mejor de sus virtudes
es que el me quiere un montón.
el me quiere un montón
el me quiere un montón

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Photos from the show

Some images from this years ALA in New Orleans are in PW
Here my own offerings Can you tell who there people are?:

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?

Lisali and I made dolls

Hers was inspired in one of my skeletons, and it had a tattoo on the back of her head.

Mine was a reproduction of the doll I depicted in my book, Ladder tot the Moon.

And it went home with Maya.

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.

Nosotros--my familia

List, more list, and Yuyilist

This is the time when children's books lists naming the best of the year sprout. You might have seen them already too:

The NY public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing10 for '10: Best Books for Youth on social Justice and Intercultural UnderstandingKirkus 2010 Best Children's Books
Publishers Weekly Best Children's books 2010The New York times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1010
The Huffington Post Best Picture Books 2010School Library Journal Best Books 2010: Picture Books2010 Horn Book Fanfare

Even a couple of my favorite literary people make their own well informed list:

Fuse #8 100 Magnificent Children's books of 2010
Richie's picks: The Best of 2010

and many more.

So, why not a Yuyilist? Ok, unlike reviewers, I don't get to see even a minimal part of the about 5,000 children's books that are published every year. So my list would have to be different; it wouldn't be about naming the best of the year according to me. Instead it will have to be about 2010 books that caught my eye, that surprised me, that kept me reading late at night. And so here they are:


Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin. Duncan Tonatiuh (what a magnificent name; The Sun God) illustrated this book with an style that brings to modern days the indigenous art of Mexico. Notice the painting of people facing sideways like in the Mayan and Aztec art. The more I look at this book the more I admire it.


Chavela's Magic Bubble Gum. Yes, this book is illustrated by my sister Magaly, and, of course, I naturally feel close to anything she produces. But when I went to the store and looked inside the shelves, and even though I have seen the illustrations while it was being made, guess which book caught my eye? Yes, it was hers, with its warm colors and the magic of the bubble gum harvested from the sapodilla tress, with Abuelita's sweet face and pretty dresses, and the chicleros's whistling songs while they work.


Henry in Love= Yuyi in Love. To me this book is the epitome of a picture book: simple, elegant, beautiful, charming, carefully illustrated; in my opinion the right direction for picture books. An inspiration.


Me, Frida, to date the best work of David Diaz. Oh-huh, does that mean that he could win the...? He could win anything, indeed!


The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy). What a book! I loved peeking inside the little pages inserted between spread that show Susy's writing about her famous father Mark Twain. But what I loved even more what the cleverness of the compositions, the play of the illustrating elements, the light, and the use of lines.


Tortilla Sun. This middle grade novel kept transporting myself to the desert to make and savor tortillas in a different style from the one I learned when I was a child. While I didn't necessarily think of this book as magical realism (the way it has been publicized), I enjoyed it for the narrative, the landscapes it portrayed, and the familiarity I felt with the characters in this story.


Shadow. Susy Lee keeps coming with books that leave me thinking, leave inspired, and even leave me a little scared sometimes. There very few words in her books, but her designs makes for great narratives where feelings are abundant.


Petit, the Monster. Is Petit bad or is he good?. He is bad when he lies, but then he is good when he tells stories, right? I used to have the same problem as Petit; as a child I couldn't figure out if I was good or bad. I actually think, like this story suggest that, like in Petit's case, duality simply runs in my family.


Any Small Goodness: A small Novel of The Barrio. OK, I know, I know. This is not a 2010 book. I know! But it was only this year that I read Tony's novel, and I was wowed. This book is a little jewel, like a secret kept inside a little box in Abuelita's closet. What a pleasant surprise to find a book with inexplicable characters like Abuelita who arrived from Aguascalientes on a Norteño bus carrying her prayer book, a photograph of Grandfather, and her lava grinding stone molcajete. Or Mami, who's got possum-pavor, because she is convinced that they will give her tlacuachazos big possum hits when she take the garbage out at night. One of my favorite reads this year.


Now I must confess, I got a soft spot for City Dog, Country Frog. At first I wasn't warmed up to the image in the cover, but open it up and the images are tender, engaging, and funny. A book to love.

Other books I greatly enjoyed:
Little Owl Lost
The Dreamer
Side to Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez
My Shoes and I
The Boss Baby
Dave the potter (what an elegant and beautiful book)

One book I haven't gotten to see yet, but that I am awaiting to read before the year is finished is Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush. this is a graphic novel, and I am very taken with the description and the art in the cover. Take a look.


What I am anticipating to see next year are two books with art from two of my favorite illustrators, Rafael Lopez and John Parra respectively, La Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred (just look at this artwork!)


and Waiting For The Biblioburro.



I, for once, can't wait.