Ancona Books

Tio Rico lives in a village in Oaxaca (wah-ha-kah), Mexico. He is a 77 year-old who became a pinata maker when rheumatism made it too difficult to continue his business of making sombreros.

A village boy collects newspapers and concrete sacks for Tio Rico. These he uses to fashion unusual and decorative pinatas. The process is explained by a delightful profusion of photographs which accompany the story. The author, George Ancona, also shows "puppets" which are child-size papier-mache forms worn by young folk dancers. He shows his own version of pinata formed over cardboard or balloons for those of us who cannot buy clay pots at a local market.

Children everywhere will enjoy this colorful book and be eager to try the craft. With luck, they will have patient teachers and learn some Spanish and/or English words, too! My favorite companion book is "Colors of Mexico" (isbn: #1575052164), illustrated by Janice Porter.

"THE PINATA MAKER" is a 5-star book for adults as well as children, and most appropriate for the 2003 church women's study of Mexico. Find a group of children to share this book with, and increase your enjoyment three-fold.

Both my 5 & 3 year-old children LOVE this book. It is a nice combo of something fun (the pinatas, the design, & just the thought of candy...) and reality (photos of Don making pinatas). It is simple enough for them to understand, and captivating enough for even my younger child. We haven't delved much into the spanish text, but will eventually. For now, we're working on making the star for my daughter's sixth birthday party!

The Piñata Maker describes how a Mexican gentleman, Don Ricardo, became a piñata maker. It elaborates on how he makes his beautiful piñatas, while including a description of his way of life. The book is fantastic for individuals who are studying either English or Spanish. I'm using it both to become more familiar with Spanish and to teach English to a Spanish speaking person. It is written on an appropriate level for adults to use in this manner, but it is also an excellent book for children.

Before I retired to Mexico from teaching in Texas I used this book as a guide to classroom activities for a self-contained classroom of boys with severe behavioral problems. The response was far beyond my expectations.

In both Spanish and English Sr. Ancona tells the interesting story of Don Ricardo, an elderly pinata maker in a small Mexican village. He also includes complete instructions which allow the reader to construct his or her own pinata.

Using the construction process as a reward I was able to involve my elementary level students in a number of academic activities they had earlier resisted, as well as expanding the learning process into a number of new areas. In addition, behavior related problems decreased dramatically because participation in the reading, discussion, and pinata design and construction were based upon the completion of other academic work as well as classroom behavior and all wanted to engage in the interesting activities and discussions suggested by the book.

The ways in which this book can be used by creative teachers are many. I strongly suggest that teachers consider using this book as inspiration for a number of enjoyable and effective learning activities.

The charming little book follows Don Ricardo as he designs, makes and delivers his pinatas in a small Mexican town. Don is 77 years old and started making Pinatas 15 years ago. You are not only taken through every step of making a creative yet traditionally made pinata, but you also get the feel for the ruralness of the town and it's people through the photographs. I recommend this as great book to read to your kids, or to use to get help with making Pinatas. The bi-lingual text, helps it work for both spanish and english speaking children.

As challenging to the biblical tradition as Darwin's theory of
evolution. The first human being was a woman not a man (Adam). A terrific argument, especially the interpretation of Eve and Eden.

Thank you for proving what I've always known: Women are "it"! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It is a great argument. Intelligent but easy to follow -- laid out like a lawyer presenting a case. A step-by-step proving that "god" is a woman.

I'm convinced -- a "must read" for all women. Any woman who reads this HAS to feel good about herself! If you have a daughter, give her this book.

I read the DaVinci Code but that was fiction. This is fact and
really challenges everything I once believed. If you read the DaVinci Code, you should read this -- truly enlightening.

very good photos but not enough information on charro working life

Ion Gibbon

Lovely photos and words reveal a traditional sport, way of life and skills comparable to the American rodeo. Boys, girls, young women and men join in for a day of celebration centered around style, courage, horses and skill with a rope. Over 2 & 1/2 dozen Spanish words are introduced through the text. I would reocmmend this book to students in the 4th and 5th grades.

My daughter really enjoys reading this book and looking at the pictures. She can't wait to take the book to show and tell. She would like to show her friends what she does on the weekends. She loves going to the pow-wow and dancing in her jingle dress.

This is a FABULOUS book for preparing a classroom for what they will see, hear, and do at a Native American Powwow. This book is an excellent teachers' resource as well as picture book for elementary-age children that have not experienced the culture and diversity of Native Americans. The author highlights a young Native American boy as he leads you through a powwow, focusing on the dances and regalia worn by Native Americans who demonstrate some of their traditional ceremonial activities.

I have been learning Latin for a couple of years on my own with an aim to take the AP exam before returning to school. Catullus has always been one of my favorites, having been introduced to him fairly early on (Wheelock's Latin gives you the unaltered "Kisses" poem as an exercise somewhere around the middle of the book). Since I had read the same group of three or four poems again and again and again in my first couple of years of Latin and after reading "Catullus and His World," I was more than ready to sink my teeth into some more Catullus. This book offered a great opportunity.

The notes are convenient and helpful without depriving you of the chance to decipher the grammar for yourself. Here, however, I'll make one suggestion to the reader: if you're a more advanced student, I would suggest reading the copies in the back without the notes, and only reference them if you need to. Intermediate students, on the other hand, should breathe in the notes as they are quite informative. The poems themselves are interesting, well-selected, and well-printed. The only real deficit is one of quantity; I'd love to see something like this for the entire corpus, if anyone has a mind to put together such a volume.

This is an exceptional book for students learning to read Latin poetry. We have just about finished it in my AP course, and the students have found the vocabulary and grammar notes placed on the same page with the text extremely helpful. It also includes a glossary in the back as well as an extra copy of each poem without notes. This is extremely helpful for studying. Professor Ancona has created a text that is truly classroom friendly.

great coorelation between neurophysiology and computer science

Most children love bananas, but few actually know about the time and effort that goes into their growing, harvesting and shipping. For those of us in the States, it's very easy to simply walk into a grocery store and grab a bunch or two. Most of the time, we don't think about where they came from or how they got here. However, the story of bananas is a complicated and fascinating one.

The book begins with the plant itself and explains that bananas are not grown on actual TREES, though the plants can grow to 8 feet or more. We are then introduced to Manolo, a child whose family works on a banana plantation in Honduras (very far away from where one of those bananas will be eaten in the United States by Margie). The growth of the fruit is explained and illustrated in color and sharp B&W photographs. They are allowed to grow, then cut down and sent for processing. There they are cut off the bunch, cleaned and packaged for shipping. Off to a warehouse, then a distributor, then ship norths to the states, then on to trucks to different markets and THEN (and only then!) is they available for the general public to eat.

Whew!!

"Bananas" is both well written and educational. Many of us, especially children don't stop to think about how a Central American fruit makes its way to the grocery stores in Vermont or Washington. In the classroom I've seen the book used in all different areas of social studies all the way up into 8th grade, so it isn't just geared for young children.

The story is easy to read, well written and does not talk down to the reader. The photographs are many and they help show not only the process of growing & harvesting bananas, but also a bit about the lives of the people who grow, pack, cut, and ship them. It's an excellent book and even very young children may enjoy reading about their favorite fruit.

I love this book. This is real literature that Mexican/Mexican American children can relate to; Not only children with Mexican backgrounds, but immigrant children overall. My favorite part is page 10 where Jose stares at the mural painted by the Salvadoran painter (Salvadoran struggles are rarely depicted in literature). This book moved me so much that I am motivated to visit Mission District, San Francisco to experience that beautiful atmosphere first hand.

Thank you, A Southern Californian (Latina)Elementary School Teacher

Co-authored by academicians Helena Dettmer (Professor of classics and Associate Dean at the University of Iowa) and LeaAnn A. Osburn (who until her recent retirement taught Latin at the Barrington High School, a regular presenter on Latin pedagogy at conferences around the country, and who serves as an editor for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers for the Latin language instruction titles), "A Cattullus Workbook" is enhanced for the Latin language student with a Latin-to-English glossary developed by Ronnie Ancona. This superbly organized and presented workbook features the complete Latin text for all the selections on the AP Catullus syllabus; short answer questions addressing underlying grammatical and syntactical structures of each Catullus poem; multiple choice questions on grammar, syntax, figures of speech, and content; passages for scansion and translation; short and long essay questions; four review chapters (including essays requiring comparative analysis of the poems). Thoroughly 'student friendly', "A Catullus Workbook" will prove to be an essential and invaluable supplement to any highschool or college level Latin language instructional curriculum.

with all of my students work this book made it easy and clear cut to compute problems in engineering, mr ancona should write many more