El cuarto de los cuentos en ¡Hola Libro!

Gracias, Mayra.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Two must-read blogs
On this day where so many people in the US are out looking for good deals for Christmas gifts, I found two great deals and both of them were free! As I opened my email this morning and read the latest from the babarianos (revista Babar listserv), a post by Pepe Pelayo caught my eye(s): a new blog with an announcement of his latest book: Lucía Moñitos, corazón de melón. The blog's opening page includes a hilarious photo of Pelayo replicating the look of a statue of Quijote, plus links to all kinds of goodies, both for kids and adults. It's definitely worth visiting often. As I write this I am trying to find a way to purchase his latest Lucía Moñitos for our school library. A second surprise awaited me while reading more posts by babarianos. El cuarto de los cuentos, a blog by author Ana Tortosa, where we find her describing her latest book: "Daniela is an authentic feast for our senses and emotions; it presents us a child who can be imagined just how each of us does; Daniela is light, she is water, she is magic, Daniela is all play and pure emotion. Being next to Daniela and her dreams is to do so in any child's dreams, imagining like any child who changes color like chameleons; changes flavor like a multi-flavored ice cream. Daniela is the essence of the human being, is part of the four elements, metamorphoses as a mermaid, as a flower, as fruit. She goes from vast to miniscule because like any child, everything is important for Daniela, from a bread crumb to an enormous and prodigious animal. That is how Daniela is, and so much more. " [Daniela es un auténtico festín para los sentidos y para las emociones porque nos presenta a una niña que puede ser tal y como nos la imaginemos nosotros, porque Daniela es luz, es agua, es magia; Daniela es puro juego y pura emoción. Acompañar a Daniela en sus sueños es hacerlo por los sueños de cualquier niño o niña que se imagina de una manera, después de otra; que cambia de color como los camaleones, que cambia de sabor como los helados de mil gustos. Daniela es la esencia del ser humano, forma parte de los cuatro elementos, se metamorfosea en sirena, en flor, en fruto. Va de lo grande a lo pequeño porque para ella, como para cualquier niño, todo es importante, desde una miga de pan a un animal enorme y prodigioso. Así es Daniela y mucho más.] Other books by Ana Tortosa, such as De otra manera, are discussed in this blog, and each one seems as appealing as the next. De otra manera gets us to look at things in a different way: "The fears, the storms, nightmares, goodbyes, absences, could be perceived differently if they were looked in a different way. They can be overcome if one looks at them differently..." [Los miedos, las tormentas, las pesadillas, las despedidas, las ausencias... pueden tomarse de otra manera si se miran con otra luz.] Un par de alas introduces us to a boy who thinks his grandmother is a fairy. [El pequeño narrador de Un par de alas tiene una certeza que nos explica con total seriedad y lógica: su abuela es un hada. Y él lo sabe porque nunca la encuentra en los sitios, porque le parece que se ríe cuando le pregunta, porque tiene indicios (a la abuela no le gustan los ruidos ni la sal) y porque encuentra, finalmente, la prueba que corrobora su certeza y que da nombre al libro.] Check these two blogs out and, should you find a way to get these books available in the Unites States, let us know. I certainly would love to have them in our students' hands right away.