No, I am not done with the Pride Month writing. There will be more on that.
As my different reading sections are starting to overlap more (especially as I finish up the post-2016 election reading) I am trying letting the writing overlap and alternate as well.
I don't know if I will stick with it, but there are ways in which I think it may be helpful.
Yuyi Morales seems like a good starting place. I first learned of her from a book that featured both her and Jerry Pinkney, so she connects to my Black History reading.
In trying to locate her work, I have run into some confusion. Among the books listed on Goodreads there was one, Le Costume de Malaika, by Nadia Hohn. I found one called Malaika's Costume and requested it (different language editions is nothing new), but the illustrator of that book was Irene Luxbacher. Was there a French edition illustrated by Morales?
I went to her Wikipedia page to check. That bibliography mostly matches Goodreads, except that there is no Malaika's Costume (the French edition on Amazon shows the same artwork and lists Luxbacher). Wikipedia does show another book, Todas las Manos Buenas by F. Isabel Campoy, that Goodreads does not have.
I am trying to get a hold of that now, but tracking down books can be tricky, especially children's books.
Maybe Yuyi is a good test case for blending and mixing things up.
Another reason that is appropriate is her own artistic style. While she can draw and paint, she will often mix in dolls and fabric and other materials. Sometimes it is blended so skillfully it is hard to be sure what was drawn and what was not.
That makes it seem appropriate that two of her books are tributes to artists: her illustrations for Amy Novesky's Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased and Morales' own Viva Frida.
Many of the books have strong senses of familial love. It may make sense that among her solo books are a counting book, an alphabet book, one featuring a game of hide and seek, and two books about a little boy imagining himself as a luchador. It would be easy to believe that those were inspired by her son Kelly as he was learning and growing:
Just a Minute! A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book
Little Night
Niño Wrestles the World
Rudas: Niño's Horrendous Hermanitas
That is easy to imagine because of the love infused in Dreamers.
In Dreamers, Morales tells the story of her and her young son coming into the United States. During a difficult adjustment they find libraries and children's books.
In addition to the beauty and inspiration found in the story, part of the fun is seeing familiar book covers. A future reading month could launch from that, at some point.
While the term "Dreamers" has a specific meaning now, in the book it is about a mother and child discovering what they can become. There is optimism, but also an awareness that there are dangers. This is echoed in Bright Star, and it makes Morales' participation in a book for Project Amplify, Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz, logical.
I am glad that I learned about Todas las Manos Buenas before I read the foreword Morales wrote to Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children's Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. In it, she refers to Campoy, and I knew the context that Campoy's work was the first book Morales illustrated (also a friend):
My friend Isabel Campoy wrote once that there are no Latinos in Mexico. or El Salvador, or Cuba, or in any or the twenty Hispanic countries for that matter, because Latinos is actually the term used to refer to the Spanish-speaking population (and their descendents) of the United States. For the same reason, I realize now, I had to come to a foreign country to become who I am: a Latino author and illustrator. I have learned that to be labled Latino also defines such things as the shelves where my work will be displayed. I sense danger in any term that specifies ethnicity, as if being Latino, or African American, or indigenous suggests the possession of a monolingual voice and a specific vision meant to be understood only by those who are already familiar with these. I must say that I do not fear this label. In my path through schools and in visiting my readers, I have learned that children take from our work what they need the most.
Additional books illustrated by Yuyi Morales:
Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng
Sand Sister by Amanda White
My Abuelita by Tony Johnston
Floating on Mama's Song by Laura Lacámara
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes
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