Colores de la vida: Mexican Folk Art Colors in English and Spanish
Grades PreK-2
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
by: Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo

Section: Children's Book Reviews


Fall/Winter 2011

Reviewed by Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo. Assistant & Foster-EBSCO Endowed Professor School of Library & Information Studies University of Alabama. He received his Ph.D. in Communication and Information Studies from the University of Alabama and holds a Masters of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama.

Featuring a menagerie of vibrant, hand-carved animal sculptures from Oaxaca, each page of this concept book highlights a specific animal on a vibrant solid-colored background followed by the Spanish and English equivalents to the color of the animal featured. Spanish names work for all the colors except “brown” which is described as “café.” Considering that this is the color name used by certain types of Spanish (such as Mexican Spanish) in lieu of “marrón,” a clarifying note would be useful. Certainly, the saturated illustrations of the animals are the most noteworthy characteristic of the book. Pair with Cohn’s and Cordova’s The Dream Carver (2002) and Weill’s previous books; ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABCs in English and Spanish (2007) and Opuestos: Mexican Folk Art Opposites in English and Spanish (2009) for a library program exploring the Oaxacan folk art. Recommended.

Colores de la vida: Mexican Folk Art Colors in English and Spanish. Cynthia Weill. Photographs by Otto Piron. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-933693-82-8. Bilingual English and Spanish.
 
 

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