Jorge Argueta

Poems describe the experiences of young Central Americans as they leave the dangers of their own countries to undertake the risky journey north to seek relative safety in the United States.

"My name is Earth / but people call me Little Earth." In the fourth installment of their award-winning Madre Tierra / Mother Earth series of trilingual picture books about the natural world, Jorge Argueta and Felipe Ugalde Alcántara collaborate again to introduce Mother Earth, who is "full of all the colors / and all the flavors." She is the mother of water, fire, wind and earth. Some call her planet, others nature or creation. "I am Mother Earth...

Five-year old Luna is afraid she'll find monsters at her new school until a kind teacher and her new classmates show her that she has nothing to fear.

Ten-year-old Jimena loves El Salvador but when gangs threaten to force her to join, she and her mother immigrate to the United States, but are separated at the border.

Provides a poetic recipe for cheese tamalitos that not only offers instructions for making them but highlights the importance of corn in the foodways of the Americas. Hacer tamalitos de maíz es delicioso y muy fácil. En este entretenido poema para cocinar, un hermano y una hermana te enseñan a preparar la masa y a rellenarla con queso, antes de envolverla en tuzas. En un lenguaje poético accesible, Jorge Argueta nos habla del maíz: de su aspecto...

Olita ha llegado de visita de los Estados Unidos a El Salvador. Su primo, amigos y tía la invitan al cumpleaños de Manyula. Rumbo a la fiesta caminan bajo la lluvia tibia, saltan charcos y van conociendo lugares históricos del barrio de San Jacinto. Al llegar a la casa de Manyula, Olita se encuentra con una gigantesca sorpresa. Todos se divierten al ver a Manyula bailar y comer su enorme pastel. Este es el gran cumpleaños que Olita nunca olvidará. Olita...

Presents poems which explore a Pipil Nahua Indian boy's connection to Mother Earth and how it heals the wounds of racism.

"This novel in verse is a powerful first-person account of Misael Martínez, a Salvadoran boy whose family joins the caravan heading north to the United States. We learn all the different reasons why people feel the need to leave -- the hope that lies behind their decision, but also the terrible sadness of leaving home. We learn about how far and hard the trip is, but also about the kindness of those along the way. Finally, once the caravan arrives...