From the Belly Button of the Moon

This book is full of poems about summer. Some poems are short and choppy, others are longer and include Latino heritage. Some poems rhyme and others do not. The poems describe the joys that can be found on this earth and the beauty it holds. The poems also describe nature and how it mirrors other things in nature. Each poem has the poem in English and then in Spanish.

The pictures are brightly colored and use colors from the Latino culture as well as designs that come from the culture. The pictures fill 2 pages per poem and usually tell more than just the poem explains. The illustrations look as if they are from a dream.

Alarcon, Francisco. (1998). From the belly button of the moon and other summer poems. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.

Laughing Tomatoes and Other Poems

This book is full of poems about spring. Some poems are short and choppy, others are longer and include Latino heritage. Famous Latinos like Cesar Chavez are even included in the poem to celebrate his birthday. Each poem has the poem in English and then in Spanish. The final poem tells how they are only new beginnings. The book gives a very positive message.

The pictures are brightly colored and use colors from the Latino culture as well as designs that come from the culture. The pictures fill 2 pages per poem and usually tell more than just the poem explains. The illustrations look as if they are from a dream.

Alarcón, Francisco, Gonzalez, Maya, & Wadham, Tim. (1997). Laughing tomatoes and other spring poems. Neal Schuman Pub.

Rosa

Rosa Parks was a seamstress and her boss let her out early one day and she made her way to the bus to go home. She paid her fair, went to the segregated entrance in the back of the bus and sat in the "neutral" section of the bus where blacks or whites could sit. The bus driver yelled for Mrs. Parks and some other riders to leave the seats - all did but Rosa. She was tired of segregation and didn't want to move so the driver called the police and she was arrested. The colored people in Alabama decided to boycott riding the bus and held a peaceful demonstration with the help Dr. Martin Luther King for about a year. The Supreme Court finally ruled that segregation was wrong and everyone was entitled to be equal.

The illustrator uses muted colors to establish the mood in this amazing story. The use of collage allows for a dynamic that reinforces the words written on the page. The pictures fill one and a half pages and are very realistic.

Giovanni, Nikki, & Collier, Bryan. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Martin's Big Words

Martin was a boy that did not understand why signs in his neighborhood said "white only." He listened to his father preach and decided he wanted to do something great when he grew up so he learned about love, studied the teachings of Ghandi, and he became a preacher too. Southern white people did not like what he was preaching and his house and his brother's house was bombed and yet Martin still had courage, protested, had peaceful marches. Martin began the end of segregation and taught others to fight with words and love. His words still speak to many even though he died for equality.

This picture book is well illustrated and has beautiful paintings depicting the fight for segregation. The pictures help add to the mood by using color. The composition and use of mixed media and collage create an amazing addition to the beautiful words in the story.

Rappaport, Doreen, & Collier, Bryan. (2001). Martin. New York, NY: Jump At The Sun.