Latin America
Colombia
The Young Teacher and the Great Serpent
By Irene Vasco, Lawrence Schimel (Translator), Juan Palomino (Illustrator)
The Young Teacher and the Great Serpent. Irene Vasco. Translated by Lawrence Schimel. Illustrated by Juan Palomino. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2023. Originally published as La joven maestra y la gran serpiente in Spanish by Editorial Juventud, Barcelona, in 2019. ISBN 9780802856173. 40 p. (Ages 5-9). Picture book.
As a teacher shares books with her students, they tell her the legends of a great serpent. On the Fundación Cuatrogatos Award list. The author is a prominent Columbian educator; she was recognized by the Colombian Ministry of Education with its “Life and Work” distinction for her long career working with children and teens. [jm]
Argentina
Sheep Count Flowers
By Micaela Chirif, Arthur A. Levine (Translator), Amanda Mijangos (Illustrator)
Sheep Count Flowers. Micaela Chirif. Translated by Arthur A. Levine. Illustrated by Amanda Mijangos. Levine Querido, 2021. Originally published as Las Ovejas by Limonero, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2020. ISBN 9781646141197. 40 p. (Ages 4-7). Picture book.
If we count sheep, what do sheep count to get to sleep? This dream-like book speculates on the answer to that question and more about sheep. Peruvian author and poet Micaela Chirif's picture books have won the “A la Orilla del Viento” picture book competition from the Spanish-language publishing house Fondo de Cultura Económica. Three of her picture books were White Ravens selections. [jm]
El Salvador
Guacamole: A Cooking Poem
By Jorge Argueta, Elisa Amado, Margarita Sada (Illustrator)
Guacamole: Un poema para cocinar /A Cooking Poem (Bilingual Cooking Poems). Jorge Argueta. Translated from the Spanish by Elisa Amado. Illustrated by Margarita Sada. Groundwood Books/Libros Tigrillo/House of Anansi Press, 2016, c2012. ISBN 9781554988884. 32 p. (Ages 5-8). Poetry.
A recipe/poem for guacamole that will get kids excited about cooking other foods too! This is the third book in the “Bilingual Cooking Poems” series, which currently numbers five. Recipient of the International Latino Book Award, Jorge Argueta has also won many more awards for his books, which have been placed on the Américas Award Commended List, the USBBY Outstanding International Books List, Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books, and the Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices. Though Argueta is a Pipil Nahua Indian and spent much of his life in El Salvador, he now lives in California. [jm]