Additional information
by Francisco X. Alarcón (Author), Maya Gonzalez (Illustrator)
Pura Belpré Author Award Winner, Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Best Books of the Year Selection, Library of Congress
Gold Medal Award, National Parenting Publications Award
Bilingual English/Spanish. From the imagination of poet Francisco X. Alarcón comes Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems, a playful and moving collection of twenty poems in English and Spanish.
Tomatoes laugh, chiles explode, and tortillas applaud the sun! With joy and tenderness, delight and sadness, Alcarcón's poems honor the wonders of life and nature: welcoming the morning sun, remembering his grandmother's songs, paying tribute to children working in the fields, and sharing his dream of a world filled with gardens.
Artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invites us to experience the poems with her lively cast of characters-including a spirited grandma, four vivacious children, and playful pets who tease and delight. Follow them from page to page as they bring each poem to colorful life.
Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems is a verbal and visual treat, giving us twenty opportunities to see everything for the first time.
Author Biography
Francisco Alarcón was a renowned poet and educator, and a three-time winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award Honor for his bilingual Magical Cycle of the Seasons series of poetry for children. His many other honors include the American Book Award, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, the Chicano Literary Prize, and finalist for state poet laureate of California. Alarcón was also the author of several poetry collections for adults and textbooks for teaching Spanish. In addition, he directed the Spanish for Native Speakers Program at the University of California. Alarcón passed away in early 2016.
Maya Gonzalez is an author and the illustrator of many award-winning children's books published by Lee & Low. They are also a progressive educator who developed the symbol and theory of the Gender Wheel, a tool to express the dynamic, infinite, and inclusive reality of gender. Gonzalez creates gender-inclusive books and materials that focus on teaching, inspiring, and empowering children and adults to create personal and cultural change in their lives, and provides lectures and workshops to educators, parents, and caregivers. They live with their family in San Francisco, California. genderwheel.com
