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Summary
Summary
An Americas Award Commended Title
Raw, honest and powerful, these moving bilingual poems by noted Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta explore a young Indigenous boy's connection to Mother Earth and how he is healed from the terrible wounds of racism he has endured. Tetl has learned from his grandmother about the spirituality of his ancestors, about how they viewed the earth as alive with sacred meaning. This helps him move from doubt and fear, created by the taunts of other children, to self-acceptance and a discovery of his love for nature.
Mountains, wind, corn and stones all speak to Tetl, almost seeming to vibrate with life. He feels deep roots in them and, through them, he learns to speak and sing. They reveal his Nahuatl self and he realizes that he is special, beautiful and sacred.These gripping poems have something to teach us all, perhaps especially those who have been either intentionally or casually cruel or racist, as well as those who have been the victims of racism.
Author Notes
Jorge Argueta is an award-winning author of picture books and poetry for young children. He has won the International Latino Book Award, the Américas Book Award, the NAPPA Gold Award and the Independent Publisher Book Award for Multicultural Fiction for Juveniles. His books have also been named to the Américas Award Commended List, the USBBY Outstanding International Books Honor List, Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books and the Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices. Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds, illustrated by Alfonso Ruano, won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, was a Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature honor book and an ALA Notable book, and received many other honors. A native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian, Jorge Argueta has returned to El Salvador and built a library in his backyard in San Salvador so that children can learn to love books.
A Texas native and daughter of late artist Gloria Osuna Perez, Lucia Angela Perez is a visual artist with a degree in fine arts from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has illustrated several children's books including Little Gold Star by Joe Hayes, Every Child by Tish Hinojosa, and Talking with Mother Earth.Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3 Up-This literary offering stands out for its beauty and depth of expression. Argueta, a Pipil Nahua Indian, reaches deep into his childhood in rural El Salvador for memories and for his connection to Mother Earth. The poems alternate between bitterness and joy. Nahuatl words are peppered throughout, almost defiantly: Tetl is my name./It means stone./But everybody knows me as Jorge./I like Tetl better./It is the Nahuatl name my grandmother gave me./Tetl/Tetl/Tetl/Tetl not Jorge. That is my name. Poems about fire, wind, and water speak to those life-giving forces as friends and protectors. Pérez's illustrations are colorful, detailed, and appealing, incorporating many indigenous icons, yet they fail to convey the strength of Argueta's words. The selections can be shared aloud with youngsters or enjoyed independently. A unique and lovely collection. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
These poems by Salvadoran author Argueta are written in the voice of a Pipil Nahua Indian boy named Tetl. Many of Tetl's poems are about his connections to the natural world and his cultural identity. The simple language of the poetry is accompanied by colorful iconic visual imagery. The English and Spanish versions of the poems are equally effective. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Both his connection to the earth and, to a lesser extent, his estrangement from the "European" world have a part in these poems written in the voice of a Central American boy. Tetl, also known as Jorge, speaks particularly fondly of what he has learned from his grandmother and of the customs, traced back to the Aztecs, that have passed down through his people: the way the four directions are embodied in the human being; the love of Mother Earth for her children; and the voices of the grandparents speaking through the stones of the earth. Essentially a celebration of the natural world and of the manners in which Tetl's tribe celebrates, Argueta's poems are rendered fluidly and vividly in both English and Spanish, each language rendering the sense of the other rather than a literal recasting. Prez's illustrations use rich pastel hues to present the shining of the sun, flames leaping, water flowing and plants and animals in their natural places. Argueta's vision is one of a world in balance, one in which the only deep conflict is between the boy's two heritages, which he must harmonize. (Poetry/bilingual. 7-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
