Maurice Sendak

Hoy Maurice Sendak hubiera complido 85 años. En mi opinión, fue uno de los grandes de la literatura infantil y juvenil pues escribía e ilustraba, an algunos casos, sin miramientos y si colorear todo de rosa. Por eso, sus libros siguen gustando a legiones de niños que los descubren por primera vez o que los siguen leyendo años después con tanto gusto. Sus personajes, como Max y los monstruos, los llevas siempre en el corazón. En los libreros de mi casa hay varios de sus títulos y, aparte de Donde viven los monstruos, uno de mis favoritos, también están Swinelake, Mummy?, un libro pop-up de Arthur Yorinks, y otros pero los que más cuido son dos que ya casi no se encuentran porque fueron de los primeros que el ilustró. Fueron escritos por Ruth Krauss: A Hole is to Dig y Open House for Butterflies. Los dos recogen divertidas definiciones hechas por niños en edad preescolar y son un deleite. Tuve la suerte de comprarlos usados hace varios años y me di cuenta, después, que son primeras ediciones. Son unos de mis tesoros aunque no están en óptimas condiciones. Eso no me importa porque me parece que los niños que los leyeron lo han de haber hecho tantas veces que los dejaron así. 

Libros así son libros amados.

Hoy no nos queda más que agradecer la vida y la imaginación y talento de este hombre. 

Today Maurice Sendak would have celebrated his 85th birthday. In my opinion, he was one of the greats in kid's lit because he wrote and illustrated, in some cases, without being oversweet or producing literature that saw everything through rose-colored glasses. I believe this is why his books are still being enjoyed by legions of kids who discover them for the first time or are still reading them years later with so much pleasure. His characters, like Max and the wild things, will always be in our hearts. My bookshelves are home to many of his books and, besides Where the Wild Things Are, you'll also find Swinelake, Mummy?, written by Arhtur Yorinks; and others but the ones I take care of the most are two written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by him: A Hole is to Dig and Open House for Butterflies. Both have definitions made by preschoolers and are delighful. I had the good luck of buying them used a few years ago and later found out that they're first editions. They're treasured though they're not in excellent condition. That doesn't bother me since the kids who read them must have done it so many times that they left them like that. 

Books like those are loved.

Today we can but thank Sendak for his life, imagination, and talent.

 

Exhibición de fantasía/Fantasy exhibit

Yo soy fan de la fantasía y no me da pena decirlo. Crecí con los libros de Narnia y Mary Poppins, devoré los libros de Harry Potter y amé la serie de Philip Pullman que empieza con Las luces del Norte.

Me acabo de enterar de esta exhibición y cómo me encantaría verla en persona. Como no es posible, porque no tengo una escoba mágica que me lleve a Inglaterra, vean de qué se trata en esta liga: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/online/magical-books 

Ojalá la trajeran a México, donde hay muchos fans como yo. Yo sería la primera en la fila para entrar.

I'm a big fan of fantasy and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I grew up with the Narnia books and Mary Poppins, I devored the Harry Potter books, and loved Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy which begins with The Golden Compass.

I just found out about this exhibit and how I'd love to see it in person. SInce that's not possible, because I don't have a magic broom to take me to England, visit this link and learn what it's about. http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/online/magical-books

Hopefully, they'll bring it to Mexico, where there are a lot of fans like me. I'd be the first in line to see it.

Mi nuevo blog para niños/My new blog for kids

¡Me da mucho gusto anunciar que tengo un nuevo blog para niños! Por favor visítenlo en www.judygoldman4kids.blogpsot.com .

I'm very  pleased to announce that I have a new blog for kids! Please visit it a www.judygoldman4kids.blogspot.com .

Un elefante morado con motas rosas/A purple elephant with pink spots

Cuando voy a escuelas para platicar con los niños, les cuento que ellos tienen una magnífica imaginación y que pueden crear cuentos, igual que yo. Para probarlo, les digo que vamos a jugar el juego de "qué pasaría si...?" Es algo que yo juego constantemente pues de ahí salen muchas ideas para cuentos. Hay que tener a la mano papel y pluma o lápiz porque las ideas se las lleva el viento y, si no apunto las cosa inmediatemente, a veces después no me acuerdo de mi muy magnífica idea. No es nada raro que vaya en el coche y se me ocurra algo que me encanta y me pongo a buscar, como loca, el ticket del súper o un papelito cualquiera además de la pluma, que siempre se esconde en la parte más oscura de mi bolsa. Me he tenido que detener, cuando es posible, para buscar en dónde apuntar aunque sean unas cuantas palabras y, luego, ya que estoy frente a la computadora, empezar a desarrollar la idea. Con los niños hago lo siguiente: les preguntó que qué pasaría si un día, al salir de la escuela, se toparan con un elefante morado cubierto de motas rosas. Luego luego se ve que la idea les llama mucho la atención y ahí empieza la aventura pues una pregunta lleva a otra: ¿Por qué está ahí el paquidermo? ¿Por qué es de ese color tan raro? ¿Dónde vive y porque ya no está ahí? Los niños le entran al juego y me dan muchas respuestas muy divertidas y yo les digo que ya empezaron a crear un cuento. Así, además de todo, se dan cuenta que ellos también pueden contarlos y escribirlos. Y ustedes, ¿de dónde creen que salió ese elefante tan estrafalario?

When I go to schools to talk with kids, I tell them that they have a magnificent imagination and that they, too, can create stories just like I can. To prove it, I tell them that we're going to play the game of "What if...?" It's something I play all the time because I get many story ideas from it. You need to have paper and a pen or pencil on hand because ideas can be very fleeting and if I don't write them down immediately many times I forget my very magnificent idea. It's not rare that, when I'm in the car, I come up with something and, like crazy, I search for a supermarket receipt or a piece of paper as well as a pen, which usually hides in the darkest corner of my handbag. I've had to stop, when it's possible, to scribble at least a few words and then, when I'm in front of the computer, I begin to develop the idea. With kids I do the following: I ask them what would happen if, when they left the school that day, they found a purple elephant covered in pink polka dots. You can immediately see that the idea has caught their fancy and that's when the adventure begins because one question leads to another: Why is the elephant there? Why is it such a strange color? Where does it live and why isn't it there? The kids gladly play the game and give me many funny answers and I tell them that they have begun to create a story. In this way, they also realize that they, too, can tell them and write them. And you, where do you think that excentric elephant came from?

International Blog Event: The Next Big Thing #nextbigthing #literacy #mexico #folktales

 

The Next Big Thing is an awareness blog campaign that began in Australia and became international. It features authors and illustrators of books for kids and young adults and their recently published books and/or those that are slated to be released this year. Thank you to picture book author Patricia Newman (http://www.patricianewmanbooks.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-energy-books-for-next-big-thing.html) for the invitation to participate by answering the following questions:

1) What is the working title of your next book? My next book is called Whiskers, Tails and Wings-Animal Folktales from Mexico and it was illustrated by Fabricio VandenBroeck.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book? I've always loved folktales and I've published quite a few in Spanish and in Mexico. This is my first book with folktales in English that features five stories with animals as the main characters.

3) What genre does your book fall under? It's a picture book.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? It would have to be an animated film!

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Wh¡skers, Tails and Wings has five fun folktales from Mexico with information about each of the native groups that tell them: the Tarahumara, the Seri, the Huichol, the Triqui and the Tseltal.

6) Who is publishing your book? Charlesbridge is publishing the book and it has been delighful working with them.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? A very long time since I wrote some of the stories years ago and others when I presented the project to the editors at Charlesbridge.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Hmm, tough question but I'd say folktales written Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy, Tomie DePaola, and Yuyi Morales, all whom I admire.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? There are over 60 native groups living in Mexico, each with their own language, traditions, songs, stories, and way of looking at life. I'm fascinated by the lovely stories they tell especially those about animals.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? Perhaps they might learn something more about Mexico, a lovely country with wonderful traditions, warm, friendly people, great folk art, and some of the best food in the world.

Visit Patricia Newman's blog to learn about her two new books  and, next week, visit Anna Levine's blog (http://www.annalevine.org/blog.htm ), Raquel Castro's blog (http://www.facebook.com/l/kAQHsLP3PAQEUfh0WWlvYst81ojofzS7ddJ4DCkmEECQrjw/www.raxxie.com   ) which is in Spanish, and Lawrence Schimel's blog (desayunoencama.livejournal.com).

Whiskers, Tails and Wings-Animal Folktales from Mexico

Les comparto la portada de uno de mis nuevos libros, Whiskers, Tails and Wings-Animal Folktales from Mexico, que saldrá en agosto del 2013. Bellamente ilustrado por Fabricio Vanden Broeck, será publicado por Charlesbridge, editorial de Boston. Tiene cinco cuentos de tradición oral ––uno tarahumara, uno seri, uno huichol, uno triqui y uno tseltal–– además de breve información sobre cada uno de estos grupos.

This is the cover of one of my new books, Whiskers, Tails and Wings-Animal Folktales from Mexico, to be released in August 2013. Beautifully illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck, it will be published by Charlesbridge of Boston. It has five traditional tales ––of the Tarahumara, Seri, Huichol, Triqui and Tseltal–– including brief information about each group.

Receta para galletas de chispas de chocolate/Recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lo que más, más, más le gusta a Valeria, del cuento El berrinche de Valeria, son las galletas de chispas de chocolate y muy amablemente nos dio la receta para prepararlas. Búscala en www.momostro.blogspot.com. Ya que las prepares nos avisas cómo quedaron y si estás de acuerdo con Valeria.

What Valerie, of Valerie´s Tantrum, likes the most are chocolate chip cookies and she kindly gave us the recipe for them. Look for it in www.momostro.blogspot.com. Once you've made them let us know how they came out and if you agree with Valerie.