Broken Butterfly Wings

Alas de mariposas rotas

Broken Butterfly Wings



Gabriela is super excited when her gift from Titi Sylvia finally arrives. She loves the colorful, glittery butterfly wings! She stands in the middle of her room and flaps and flaps her new wings, but nothing happens. She jumps off her bed, vigorously moving the wings up and down, but again, nada. She hops down the hallway and the stairs, but she still can’t fly!



Disappointed, Gabriela goes to the garage, digs into her father’s toolbox and sets about trying to fix the broken butterfly wings. Maybe she can add a battery or an engine. Her father has a better idea, though, and encourages her to close her eyes and think about where she would like to fly. Soon she is envisioning El Yunque, a rainforest on the island of Puerto Rico that is full of tall green trees, humming waterfalls and chattering birds. She can even hear the coquí, a tiny tree frog that lives only on the island, singing its special song: coquí-coquí.



Demonstrating the joy found in using one’s imagination, this bilingual picture book depicts a young girl drawing on her senses—smell, hearing, sight—to return to a beloved place. Kids will appreciate the beauty of the rainforest’s birds, frogs and other natural wonders while admiring a strong girl willing to create solutions to problems.



Carrie Salazar (Illustrator)

Creator: Nicolas Kanellos

Area: Houston / Third Ward-MacGregor

Contributor: Arte Público Press

Source: Center for Mexican American Studies

Uploaded by: Marisela Martinez

Copyright status: In copyright

Center for Mexican American Studies

Grandma’s Chocolate

El chocolate de abuelita

Grandma’s Chocolate



Abuela’s visits from Mexico are always full of excitement for young Sabrina. She can’t wait to see what’s in her grandmother’s yellow suitcase covered in stickers from all the places she has visited. Opening it is like opening a treasure chest, and this year is no different. Inside are a host of riches: colorful ribbons, a clay whistle shaped like a bird, a drum, and the strong smell of chocolate.



“Abuelita, do you want to play a game? Let’s pretend that I’m a princess,” Sabrina says. “Okay, Sabrina,” Abuela says, “but a Mayan princess should wear a beautiful dress called a huipil.” And she pulls the traditional garment worn by Mayan and Aztec women from her suitcase.



Sabrina has lots of questions about her ancestors. Did Mayan princesses have money? Did they go to school? Did they eat chocolate ice cream? With her grandmother’s help, Sabrina learns all about the cacao tree, which was first cultivated by Mexico’s indigenous tribes. Today, seeds from the cacao tree give us chocolate, but years ago the seeds were so valuable they were used as money. And Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor, liked to eat chocolate poured over bowls of snow brought from the mountains!



Sabrina discovers that “chocolate is perfect for a Mayan princess.” And children ages 4-8 are sure to agree as they curl up with a steaming cup of hot chocolate and this charming bilingual picture book that depicts a loving relationship between grandmother and granddaughter and shares the history and customs of the native peoples of Mexico.



Lisa Fields (Illustrator)

Creator: Nicolas Kanellos

Area: Houston / Third Ward-MacGregor

Contributor: Arte Público Press

Source: Center for Mexican American Studies

Uploaded by: Marisela Martinez

Copyright status: In copyright

Center for Mexican American Studies

The Runaway Piggy

El cochinito fugitivo

The Runaway Piggy



The sun shines through the windows of Martha’s Panadería onto the shelves of freshly baked treats. The bakery holds tray after tray of hot Mexican sweet bread—conchas, orejas, cuernitos, empanadas, and cochinitos—all ready for hungry customers.



In the classic tradition of The Gingerbread Man, James Luna’s piggy cookie leaps off the baking tray and takes the reader on a mad dash through the barrio, past Lorenzo’s Auto Shop, Nita’s Beauty Salon, Leti’s Flower Shop, and Juana’s Thrift Shop.



The telephone repairman, the bus driver … each person the piggy encounters is greeted by his laugh and the repeated refrain: “Chase me! Chase me down the street! But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! I ran away from the others and I’ll run away from you!” The cochinito fugitivo avoids being eaten by the long line of people chasing him through the neighborhood streets … until he meets a crafty little girl named Rosa!



Children—and adults too—will delight in the clever piggy’s escape from Martha’s Panadería in this entertaining re-telling of a familiar story set in a colorful Latino neighborhood. A recipe to make Mexican gingerbread pig cookies is included in both English and Spanish.



Laura Lacámara(Illustrator)

Creator: Nicolas Kanellos

Area: Houston / Third Ward-MacGregor

Contributor: Arte Público Press

Source: Center for Mexican American Studies

Uploaded by: Marisela Martinez

Copyright status: In copyright

Center for Mexican American Studies

A train called Hope

Un tren llamado Esperanza

A train called Hope



In this poignant bilingual picture book, a boy remembers his first present, “a little train crossing / the mountain of my pillow / over a valley on my bed.” There’s even a girl who looks like his sister waving happily from the window!



Years later, after his parents have gone far away in search of work and a better future, the boy rides in a real train to join his family. This one is loaded with hundreds of children traveling alone, just like him. There are frightening strangers, others along the way who want to jump on and, scariest of all, a boy who almost falls off the roof because he can’t stay awake any longer.



When the train finally arrives at its destination, everyone jumps off and the boy begs “the moon to shine, / to light up the border” so he can cross and find his mother. This moving, poetic story by award-winning Salvadoran author Mario Bencastro touches on the difficult journey north many Central American children make in hopes of finding their parents and a better life.



Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Creator: Nicolas Kanellos

Area: Houston / Third Ward-MacGregor

Contributor: Arte Público Press

Source: Center for Mexican American Studies

Uploaded by: Marisela Martinez

Copyright status: In copyright

Center for Mexican American Studies