Latino Books

From The Monitor

Crowding Out Latinos is a think piece examining the treatment of Mexican-Americans-from head to toe-by present as well as past America.

Marco Portales, author of Crowding Out Latinos, with a gifted pen and a face to the wind, has created questions and provided information, which position the reader to interpret and respond: Why are Latino's being excluded and erased from the America's daily docket? Why is Hispanic literature not recognized as American Literature? Why is the economic and political advancement of Latinos stagnant? Why has "American media...made it clear that mainstream society does not have time, space, or inclination to focus attention on Hispanic matters"? Growing up in Edinburg, Texas, Portales has examined the traits and plights of the Latino people with his own eyes rather than solely through sheets of statistics. Portales, existing in the midst of the Latino struggle for social equity, has not only blamed "white America," or "media America," but also places blame on the Hispanic Americans. For example, the Latino high school dropout rate is 47%; Portales chides Latino parents' apathy, charging them insouciant, and attacks the public education system for being defunct and placing the weight of the educational heavens on the assumed Atlas- teachers.

Portales, during an internal struggle, chose to title his book "Crowding out Latinos." His original title was, "Crowding Out Latinos?" Upon further examination, the latter title was too imprecise, too wishy-washy, and failed to state the problem, but instead, question its existence. This brand of noncommitment, claimed Portales in conversation with me, is a step in the adverse direction, a step that America has hitherto preferred.

Portales boasts, "The United States Census for the year 2000 is sure to count more than 32million Latinos." With America's total population standing near 273million, roughly one out of every nine Americans will be Hispanic. How much larger will the Hispanic elephant need to grow before gaining recognition in the American room?

Crowding Out Latinos is a well-written treatise to rally Hispanics, nay, to call America to arms and face the problems of a pained and struggling people, a people without whom, America-the ideal, the liberty-would not exist.

(All information within is either cited within the book or gathered from conversations with Marco Portales)

I took a class from Profesor Portales on hispanic Lit. in the U.S. the semester before this book was published. It was one of the most engaging and worthwhile classes I have taken. He told us about the book, and even read a few parts from it. Anyone interested in understanding Latino/Chicano culture in America better should definitely read this book.

I was very pleased with this little "doll" that also has a tiny book backpack. I am very excited to give it to my niece. I am sure she will love it!

This "book" was not what I expected - when I ordered it, I was under the impression that it was a standard board book. It is not. It is acutally a doll (Dora the Explorer) which is about 4-5" tall, wearing a backpack that opens up to a very very small board book with very simple illustrations (one item per page) of what is in Dora's Backpack. My daughter really loves it, but it is not a story book like the other Dora the Explorer books we've purchased.

My 22-mo-old daughter loves this book - she loves all things Dora - and esp enjoys turning the star.

I have a 16-month old girl who can't go to bed at night without having us read a few dozens books first. I picked this up because of the "light up star" and it's a big hit. She loves the graphics and bright pictures and especially loves to turn the star to see it glow. I'd highly recommend this book!

Well structured, thoughtful, insightful, and emotionally engaging. Candid and effective for being so. Bravo to her, waiting for the next one anxiously.

Suzanne Oboler is a well-respected Latino studies professor at Brown University. In this book, she interviews immigrants from Latin America and asks if they identify as Latino and see themselves as having anything in common with other Latinos, those outside of their national origin group. Basically, she asks Latin Americans in the US themselves whether they accept this country's racial categorizations. What she finds is that working-class Latinos merely look at others as fellow Spanish-speakers and shrug US racial classifications off (though not in a hostile way) whereas Latin Americans from middle-class backgrounds were quite aware that the minority label opened access to affirmative action programs and other tangible benefits and thus embraced the label. This conclusion seems counterintuitive and is fascinating. Oboler grounds her discussion by talking of Puerto Rican and Chicano activism in this country. Even though she is of Peruvian descent, she is knowledgeable about the more populous Latino groups. This text is well-respected among ethnic studies scholars. Anyone interested in books on Latinos and Latinas in the US must obtain a copy of Oboler's work.

Rodriguez gets us thinking about the place of Latinos in US feature film from the very beginning to the present and in a sense, it's a book with a happy ending, because after decades of near-invisibility, Latinos and Latinas are becoming highly visible and indeed stars with huge followings. I mean, like it or not, Jennifer Lopez has millions of fans, as does Christina Aguillera. Intriguing are her portraits of Hollywood's Latin stars of days gone by, from the dashing Gilbert Roland to the gay superstar Ramon Novarro, and the answers to trivia questions like Olga San Juan. But she has some facts wrong, and it makes me wonder if even I, a non-Latino, can pick up some mistakes she has made, who knows maybe there are even more I don't know about! In her article on raquel Welch, first of all she deplores the fact that Jo Raquel Tejada was forced to change her name to Welch. She says that "Welch was another name in her family." Every fan of Raquel's in fact knows that "Welch" is the name of Raquel's first husband, and she didn't "steal" it or anything from some other member of her own family. Rodriguez also claims that Raquel made her screen debut in the call-girl melodrama A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME, when most historians credit her in appearing in the Elvis programmer ROUSTABOUT way before AHINAH. But, all in all you can't go wrong with Rodriguez (except when she goes wrong), and I love her description of Anthony Quinn as having the greatest gift of a screen actor, the ability to make audiences think they have known the character he is playing in any particular picture, that they have known him for a long time. It's a quirky observation, but a valid one, and a valuable one to boot.

It was that gorgeous sepia cover of Rita Hayworth that first drew me to this book. I'm not a movie buff, but that classic pose captivated me, and when I saw the numerous dramatic stills of famous screen icons from across the entire history of film, I immediately purchased four copies-for my mother, my two aunts and my niece.
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino, I quickly learned, and she had begun her career as a a Latin dancer and actor. Her's is only one of a flood of stories of Latinos stars throughout Hollywood's first century. The book is an easy and quick read, but I ended up learning a lot about how the history of Hollywood and America are intertwined. I felt that the historical context deepened and enriched the stories and provided them with a greater meaning.
One of my favorite stories is about an Austrian actor named Jacob Krantz, whose acting career was going nowhere until he changed his name to Ricardo Cortez and immediately became a big star. His brother Stanley followed him to Hollywood, also changed his name to Cortez, and won several awards as a cinematographer. And did you know that Anthony Quinn came to the US illegally, and picked crops, preached on street corners and boxed before becoming a major star?
The author writes with an accessible style and great insight. The pictures are wonderful. I'm neither Latino nor a big movie-goer, but I still loved "Heroes, Lovers and Others" because it is such a lively collage of wonderful stories about America and the rich variety of people who populate it.

This book is a joy to read and examine. Elisa Kleven knows just how to combine words to make them seem magical. And the illustrations -- the art work is fabulous! She uses mixed media collage in a way that makes the characters seems real.
A great book for ages 4 - 104! I love it!

My 4-year-old daughter and I both loved this story. Theillustrations are colorful and lively and the dialogue is easy for ayoung child to follow. Hooray A Pinata is a great book to read when you're planning a child's birthday party. The story is about a little girl who chooses a little dog pinata to be used as a game for her birthday party. She ends up becoming friends with it and decides that she doesn't want to stuff it with candy and break it open. Her friend is disspointed because he loves playing pinata so he buys her a new huge pinata that they can use instead. A note of interest: the book explains that pinatas orginated in Italy. I didn't know that!

Someone's spousal unit had a thing for this book, I am not sure why. Local moose, moose slippers, moose muffin books, etc.

I guess if a moose has made its way into your kitchen, and decides that it is afternoon tea time, you may as well make with the blueberry or chocolate chip to prevent shenanigans.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. If You Give a Moose a Muffin was one of her picks.

This humorous book has to be one of the most imaginative ever written and illustrated!

The premise starts with a child spotting a moose out the window in the back yard. The child beckons to the moose, gives the moose a muffin, opens the kitchen door, and lets the moose in. Holding the muffin in his teeth, the moose obviously seems to need some jam. The child opens the refrigerator and gets out the mother's homemade blackberry jam. The moose quickly starts eating the muffin, now that it has jam on it. Then another, and another . . . and another until they are all gone. He seems to want you to make some more.

One thing connects to another, and before the book ends the moose will get a sweater, make puppets, create the scenery, put on a puppet show, make a mess, clean up the mess, want some more jam, and still wants some more muffins.

The book works at several levels. First, the idea is simply to be a good hostess or host. That's something that all children need to learn. You should try to please your guest. Even if it is a moose!

Second, there is also an analogy to being a parent, helping a child. So your child can begin to see what it's like to be the caregiver.

Third, how do you accomplish things? Some you buy, some you make, and almost all have consequences. The book helps your child learn to connect the dots.

Fourth, the child and the moose make a terrible mess. No one gets excited, but they do take responsibility to clean up after themselves. Amen!

Fifth, one thing does lead to another. It is easy to get distracted. The circularity of the story helps your child remember what the purpose originally was, and not to get sidetracked.

Sixth, the book introduces ideas of activities you can do with your child. In fact, it's all right to put the book down and start doing those activities . . . or pick a time to do so.

All in all, you get a lot for your time and money.

The illustrations are wonderful in making the moose very human and humorous. The figures are vivid and clear, and are filled with warm, rich colors.

You can take the concept of the book and make up your own stories with your child. Then you could draw illustrations together and do the activities that you pick for the story. You could start with your child's favorite animal and food. If you give your dolphin a cookie, etc. In that way you can stimulate even more bonding and creativity. Have a ball!

Be sure to overcome your stalled thinking that only authors can come up with great stories that you'll both love. I'll bet your child and you can do a wonderful job!

Enjoy!

Excellent book for Latinos learning English. I am an ESL teacher and I brought this book to class one day. All of my students wanted one! They said it was "funny" and they really enjoyed it. Now almost everyone in the class has one. I highly recommend it.

Soy maestra de inglés. A mis estudiantes hispanohablantes les encanta este libro. Tiene palabras y frases muy útiles. Lo que más les gusta es que las palabras en ingles vienen con la manera de pronunciarlas escrita al lado.

Al ver una copia de este lilbro mis estudiantes me pidieron que les ayudara conseguir copias de este libro.

El nivél de este libro es muy básico.

Good children's literature is essential for children's reading growth. But when one discovers a good book that also develops multicultural understandings, it is to be especially treasured. Jack Poole's "Las Primas de Loreto" fits this description. Auleen R. Lutes, Adjunct Professor, Whitworth College.

As one who has spent a career working with teachers to help them improve their classroom reading instruction, I know how important it is to provide children with books they can read and want to read. "Las Primas de Loreto" is such a book. While the adventures of Manuelita and Carmelita will have special appeal for Mexican-American students, teachers will find that all kids will be enthralled. Dr. Gerald G. Duffy, Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University.

We like to flip through this book, my boys and I, and point at the bright, colorful illustrations, say the words in Spanish, and have fun. I don't drill the language into their heads. These books (there are at least three in the series) are great for having fun and being introduced to the idea that there is more than one way of saying carrot (vamos a comer) or slide. The pictures are great and colorful. I think kids really like to look at them.

These are board books, so of course they're quite sturdy and well up to the challenge babies present to them. Mine are even missing parts of their spines, but they still stay together.

If you are looking for a bilingual board book, you might try this one. The only problem is, (like most of the bilingual board books available), the don't tell a story, the just have single words or simple phrases.