Children’s Books: Migrantes

Today’s post will be my last specifically for Hispanic Heritage month, highlighting a trove of illustrated children’s books about immigrants from Latin America. As always, please drop your own favorites in the comments!

A Journey toward Hope, by Victor Hinojosa & Coert Voorhees, illustrated by Susan Guevara

Four children from three countries in Central America make the dangerous journey to the United States. The book has bright illustrations and includes jacket notes, a note from Baylor University, How to get involved, the Global Hunger and Migration Project, acknowledgements, and an illustrator’s note that all provide a good deal of additional information about immigration.

Adriana’s Angels, by Ruth Goring, illustrated by Erika Meza

Adriana’s angels accompany her from a happy life in Colombia, along a dangerous journey north, and into her new life in Chicago. The book has gorgeous illustrations, and includes an author’s note. Available in both English and Spanish.

La Frontera: El viaje con papá ~ My Journey with Papa, by Deborah Mills & Alfredo Alva, illustrated by Claudia Navarro

This bilingual book portrays the story of a boy and his father’s journey from central Mexico to Texas. With beautiful illustrations, the book contains additional information about Alfred’s story, Borders & Culture, and Immigration.

A Day’s Work, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ronald Himler

The soft watercolor illustrations perfectly complement this story of an immigrant boy and his grandfather looking for a day’s work. The boy and his grandfather both have things to teach the other.

Amelia’s Road, by Linda Jacobs Altman, illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez

Amelia’s family are migrant farm workers, but Amelia’s dearest dream is to have a home of her own, a place to belong. The book contains an author’s note.

When Christmas Feels like Home, by Gretchen Griffith, illustrated by Carolina Farias

A magical story of a boy who moves with his family to a new place where people speak a different language and children play football instead of fútbol. Spanish words and phrases are sprinkled throughout in repetition of their English equivalents.

Dreamers, written & illustrated by Yuyi Morales

This extravagantly beautiful book tells the story of a woman and child who migrate to the U.S. and discover the joy of public libraries. The book includes My Story (from the author), Books that Inspired Me (and still do), and How I Made this Book. Available in both English and Spanish.

Going Home, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by David Diaz

This gorgeously illustrated book tells the story of a family traveling back to Mexico to celebrate Christmas. The story is intimate and sweet.

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border, by Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Sara Palacios

This warm, sweet, and yet badass book tells the story of a family who visit their grandma at Border Fields State Park. I defy you to read it without a tear in your eye. The author’s note contains additional information about Las Posadas and La Posada Sin Fronteras.

Indigenous People’s Day

In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, here are several illustrated children’s books by and/or about indigenous people. Do you have other favorites? Please drop them in the comments. I write this post from the traditional homeland of the Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Apache peoples.

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message, by Chief Jake Swamp, illustrated by Erwin Printup, Jr.

The words in this beautiful book are based on the Thanksgiving Address, an ancient prayer of greeting and giving thanks for the natural world. The book contains an author’s note and a Mohawk glossary.

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

This gorgeous book shows us that fry bread is so much more than food, and that it is meant to be shared with others. The book contains a recipe for fry bread, an extensive and informative author’s note, plus references and notes. The endpapers are printed with myriad tribal names, reminding us that Native people are still here.

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee

This beautiful book explores the love between a mother and child, using arctic Inuit comparisons and illustrations. The book includes an author’s note and a glossary.

Very Last First Time, by Jan Andrews, illustrated by Ian Wallace

Also set in an arctic Inuit village, this book tells the story of Eva’s first time alone gathering mussels from beneath the frozen sea.

For the rest of these books, let’s move south from the arctic to Guatemala and southern Mexico.

Abuela’s Weave, by Omar S. Castañeda, illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez

Abuela’s Weave tells the story of a girl and her grandmother creating a special weaving on backstrap looms to sell at the market in Guatemala City. Gorgeous illustrations evoke the spirit of Guatemala.

Rainbow Weaver / Tejedora del Arcoíris, by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, translation by Eida de la Vega

This fully bilingual, brightly colored book tells the story of a Mayan girl who wants to weave rainbows like her mother and the other women, but her family does not have any thread to spare. It contains a glossary and pronunciation guide, and author’s note.

The Girl from Chimel, by Rigoberta Menchú with Dante Liano, illustrated by Domi

The Girl from Chimel is a series of stories from the childhood of human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú growing up in the mountains of Guatemala. Notes on the jacket provide more information about Menchú’s adult life. The glossary helps with words from Quiché and Spanish.

The Chocolate Tree: A Mayan Folktale, by Linda Lowery and Richard Keep, illustrated by Janice Lee Porter

This book tells the folktale story of how the Mayan people were the first to have chocolate, “the food of the gods.” It contains an author’s note, further reading and websites, and a glossary.

If you have other favorite illustrated children’s books by and/or about indigenous people, please share them in the comments!

Illustrated Children’s Books: Latinx Culture

Some of the best stories, wisdom, and artwork can be found in illustrated children’s books, and I have a considerable collection. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15—October 15), this post will highlight illustrated children’s books about Latinx culture, specifically holidays.

Hispanic Holidays, by Faith Winchester

A children’s reference book suitable for a classroom or school library, Hispanic Holidays describes the origins and celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, Easter, Corpus Christi, Saint John’s Day, Day of the Dead, Las Posadas, Three Kings’ Day, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The book includes fast facts, directions for making cascarones, a pronunciation guide, glossary, recommended reading, and an index. Not all the details are exactly correct and because the descriptions of each holiday are short, they by necessity can’t cover everything about each holiday. The book gives a reasonably good overview of these holidays, but there may be better books on the subject.

Pablo’s Tree, by Pat Mora, illustrated by Cecily Lang

Pablo’s Tree tells a beautiful story of a boy and his grandfather’s celebration of the boy’s birthday. The tradition is special to their family, and is not meant to be universal to Latinx culture. An especially meaningful story for adoptive families.

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Día de los Muertos, by Hannah Eliot, illustrated by Jorge Gutierrez

Día De Los Muertos, by Roseann Greenfield Thong, illustrated by Carles Ballesteros

Día de los Muertos is perhaps the hispanic holiday that is least understood by Anglos. Thanks to the Pixar movie Coco, Día de los Muertos is recently gaining appreciation among non-Latinx, as they realize that the holiday is a celebration to embrace both life and death, a time to honor and remember loved ones, and a reminder to enjoy life. The book by Eliot scatters some Spanish words and their English equivalents into the text, while the book by Greenfield Thong includes some Spanish words in the text without English equivalents, and instead includes a glossary at the back of the book. Both books do a good job of explaining the various traditions of this holiday, and include fun, colorful illustrations. I highly recommend them both.

Too Many Tamales, by Gary Soto, illustrated by Ed Martinez

A beautifully illustrated book, Too Many Tamales tells a funny, dramatic story set on Christmas Eve. The story includes several hispanic traditions, but the principles are universal. Recommend.

The Legend of the Poinsettia, retold and illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Have you ever wondered how the poinsettia became a symbol of Christmas? Tomie de Paola beautifully tells and illustrates the Mexican legend of the Christmas flower in this book. The author’s note provides additional information about the poinsettia flower. Highly recommend.

The Night of Las Posadas, written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Another beauty by Tomie de Paola, The Night of Las Posadas portrays one of my own personal favorite Christmas customs, complete with a Christmas miracle. Las Posadas is traditionally celebrated in Spain, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America and the U.S. southwest. Highly recommend.

N Is for Navidad, by Susan Middleton Elya & Merry Banks, illustrated by Joe Cepeda

N Is for Navidad is a fun, rhyming book that introduces a new Spanish word for each letter of the alphabet, spanning the time from Christmas preparations and Las Posadas through Three Kings’ Day. You’ll be introduced to a hispanic custom for every featured word. The author’s note brings further explanations, and the glossary expounds on all the words introduced, plus several more. Highly recommend.

A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas, by Pat Mora, illustrated by Magaly Morales

Enjoy this traditional Christmas carol with a Latin twist. The illustrations are gorgeous, and beautifully portray each of the gifts. With the repetition inherent in this song the reader will be more likely to learn twelve new words in Spanish, plus the numbers 1—12, complete with pronunciation. The book includes a glossary and pronunciation guide, author’s note, illustrator’s note, and music and lyrics to the song. Highly recommend.

Back-to-School Reading 2021

As promised, here’s the next installment of immigration-related reading. Today’s selections fall into the categories of middle grade, juvenile, teen, or young adult reading. Because summer is over and we’re squarely into October, I’m calling this the back-to-school edition.

Good middle grade and teen books manage to tackle difficult topics in ways that are relatable to younger readers. And because of the reading level and length, they typically don’t contain a lot of fluff. The authors have little choice but to keep the action moving. Each of the books I review here can be read in just a few sittings. If your child is not reading these books in school, I encourage you to read and discuss them with your child. You can find free discussion guides and teaching materials online for each of them. Even if you don’t have kids, these books are still well worth your time.

Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai

Written in verse, Inside Out & Back Again beautifully covers the year that ten-year-old Hà escaped Vietnam and resettled in Alabama with her family. Hà shows us what life was like in wartime Vietnam, the boat she and so many others took to freedom, and what it’s like to be a refugee resettled in Alabama. Hà’s emotions are raw and draw the reader deep into her story. Highly recommend.

A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park

Park masterfully intertwines the stories of two young people in southern Sudan, more than 20 years apart. Nya walks for hours every day to fetch water for her family. Salva is one of the Lost Boys, walking across countries in search of safety from war. Despite the tragedies these children encounter, A Long Walk to Water is ultimately a hopeful book. Highly recommend.

The Red Pencil, by Andrea Davis Pinkney

In this illustrated book of poetry, we travel with twelve-year-old Amira from her family life in a farm village in Darfur, through a militia attack on the village. We then walk with her and the villagers, walking and walking to a refugee camp where Amira shows us the hunger and crowding. We experience grief, learn about the local animals and birds, soup-can soccer, the always-on flicker box, and experience the joy of an orange Fanta. Throughout the story we see how Amira yearns to go to school to learn to read and write, but she is consigned to drawing in the dirt with a stick. Can a stranger’s gift of a pencil and paper change Amira’s future? Highly recommend.

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

Representation matters. The protagonists of both The Distance Between Us and The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez count The House on Mango Street as life changing. None of the books they read in school seemed real to them. They didn’t recognize the kind of family or neighborhood or even house that those books described. When they read The House on Mango Street they felt both represented and understood for the first time in their experience of literature. The book is written in very short chapters, and explores the coming of age of Esperanza, specifically while her family lives in the house on Mango Street. Esperanza offers us peeks into the lives of the neighbors, into language and culture and families, into writing and hope and growing up poor. I highly recommend it.

Indian No More, by Charlene Willing McManis with Traci Sorell

Did you ever learn in school about the Termination laws of the 1940s—1960s? No? Me neither. With those laws the U.S. terminated the legal status of many Native American tribes, relocating Native people from their reservation homeland to large cities. A PPLD All Pikes Peak Reads selection, Indian No More tells the story of a family from the Umpqua tribe in Oregon who resettled to Los Angeles, through the eyes of 8-year-old Regina. Regina’s family lives on 58th Place, with Black and Cuban neighbors, and Regina shows us how all the various neighbors treat each other. This is an important and enjoyable read.

Sing Down the Moon, by Scott O’Dell

This is another story of forced migration or displacement that I never learned about in school. Sing Down the Moon tells the story of Navaho people and the white soldiers who forced them out of their homeland of Canyon de Chelley. The Navahos and other tribes were forcibly marched more than 300 miles to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. The Native people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies or to sing or pray in their own language. Many died on the march. Conditions on the reservation were horrendous, marked by hunger, cold, sickness, and death. My own education focused on the U.S. Civil War that was taking place at the same time, completely ignoring the Long Walk. I’m grateful for this book for addressing that gap.

Afghan Update

On this the first day of the U.S. fiscal year, I bring you yet another update, this time a happier one!

Yesterday, September 30, Congress passed a continuing resolution which was signed by President Biden. This resolution makes humanitarian parolees from Afghanistan eligible for the same programs and services as refugees. This includes eligibility to apply for federal benefits programs, like Medicaid and food assistance, as well as eligibility for REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards.

This resolution does not provide a pathway to permanent status for humanitarian parolees, and these Afghans will still need to apply for asylum in order to remain in the U.S. The asylum process requires enormous amounts of paperwork, and has a years-long backlog of applicants. We will continue to advocate for an Afghan Adjustment Act that would give Afghan parolees a pathway to permanent legal status. (https://bit.ly/39VheJg)

Title 42 Update

In my last post I told you that “On September 16 federal courts ruled that the government must stop expelling migrants under Title 42. But alas, this ruling does not take effect until October 1.” This morning I learned that an appellate court has issued a stay, temporarily allowing the U.S. to continue expelling people from the border under Title 42, potentially until the end of this calendar year. (https://lat.ms/3kXAJXR) That means that “repatriation” (expulsion) flights to Haiti continue, as will expulsion flights to other countries.

Why does this matter? Seeking asylum is a legally-protected human right, under both U.S. and international law. And the ONLY way for someone to request asylum is to physically enter the U.S. It’s impossible to apply for asylum from outside the U.S. Under Title 42, our government denies asylum seekers their due process rights to apply for asylum, instead expelling them to their country of origin or to Mexico.

The expulsion of asylum seekers also violates the policy of Non-Refoulement. The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner defines non-refoulement as follows:

Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. This principle applies to all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status.

Click to access ThePrincipleNon-RefoulementUnderInternationalHumanRightsLaw.pdf

In many, if not most cases, Title 42 expulsions violate non-refoulement policies. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan “wrote that migrant families subjected to Title 42 ‘face real threats of violence and persecution’ and are deprived of statutory rights to seek protection in the U.S.” (https://lat.ms/3kXAJXR) “This month, former CDC officials and other experts wrote a letter to the Biden administration condemning the current policy as ‘scientifically baseless and politically motivated.’” (https://lat.ms/3kXAJXR)

Click here to learn more from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network about the cruelty and inhumanity of Title 42 expulsions: https://bit.ly/3mfiP2u

I have seen and experienced myself, while working at an immigrant shelter on the border, that all migrants were tested for covid immediately upon their arrival at the shelter. Shelters also offer free covid vaccinations to all immigrants, where we saw a greater than 90% inoculation rate—far greater than among the general public of U.S. citizens.

What can we do? Please sign on to these letters to President Biden asking him to stop deportation flights to Haiti:
https://bit.ly/3EJ5ffV and https://bit.ly/3ABV7mR and https://bit.ly/2XRAtkA

And to this letter from faith leaders and individuals of faith: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HRA6snP1wv1vKLt2SYkILVWdI41qwP7txLmSA8r88BE/edit

Yes, sign them all, and then share them with your friends. We must make our voices heard.