Non Fiction Picture Book Wednesday

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction.

This week I am focusing on Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead by George Ancona. 

Goodreads Summary: From October 31 to November 2, people in Mexico celebrate the festival of el Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. This photodocumentary follows Pablo and his family as they prepare to honor the memory of Pablo's grandmother. Also available in a Spanish Language edition, Pablo Recuerda.

My Thoughts: I appreciate George Ancona's ability to transport readers to another place and time. His photographs have a sense of immediacy. They are full of life and they share so much information.  His text adds any missing pieces of information we may still need. The body of the book shows how one family prepares for and celebrates the Day of the Dead. The note at the end provides a history of how the fiesta came to be celebrated. I enjoyed learning more about this holiday and look forward to sharing parts of this book with my students. 

A Few Fiction Titles for Pairing:

The Dead Family Diaz by P.J. Bracegirdle

Mi Familia Calaca by Cynthia Weill

Felipa and the Day of the Dead by Birte Müller

Rosita y Conchita by Eric Gonzalez and Erich Haeger

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book by Jeanette Winter

The Day of the Dead by Bob Barner

Other Resources for Day of the Dead:

Las Calaveras Todas Blacas Son or What is the Day of the Dead? from Latin@s in Kid Lit

Five Great Children's Books to Celebrate Día de los Muertos from Mamiverse

Day of the Dead Lesson Plans and Activities from Mommy Maestra

Update**Facts and Misconceptions About Mexican Día de Muertos from ThinkMexican

Nonfiction Picturebook Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday.

I've started to work on reading all of the Pura Belpré Award winner and honor books. All of the following except the Dolores Huerta biography have received a Pura Belpré award or honor. The cover images are from IndieBound.

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales won the award for illustration in 2004. The text tells a bit about the childhood of Chavez, but mostly focuses on his activism and non-violent fight for the rights of farmworkers. This would be a great book to pair with Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers by Sarah Warren. I had heard of Chavez, but until recently didn't even know that Dolores Huerta existed. That may be partly because as in Harvesting Hope, she was not mentioned, yet she worked closely with Chavez and was also instrumental in improving conditions for migrant workers.

Both books would be great in a biography or civil rights unit. Yuyi Morales provides a fantastic teacher's guide to go along with Harvesting Hope. I would be remiss though if I didn't also include a mention of César: ¡Sí, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! by Carmen T. Bernier Grand.

It is an amazing book of biographical poetry that would also pair well with Harvesting Hope.

George Ancona is an expert at photo essays. The photographs are always full of life and brilliant color and ¡Ole! flamenco was no exception. I was surprised to learn that flamenco is actually not only Spanish. I knew it was from Spain, but didn't know that the Roma people were part of the creation of flamenco. Ancona provides background on the Roma. I haven't really ever seen that history provided in children's lit in the past. He mentions them as Roma initially, but then tends to use the term Gypsies more frequently throughout. That was a bit of a disappointment for me as I would rather stick with Roma, but he wrote respectfully. 

The photographs of dancers, singers, and musicians, had music rolling through my head and my feet itching to dance. I can just see students wanting to try it out with some music. That reminds me that I have a friend who studied flamenco. Perhaps she could visit and teach us a few moves. We will have to at least watch a video like this one:

The author did an interview over at Lee and Low if you want to know more about this beautiful book.