Dancing in Half Moon Bay – Celebrating Día de los Niños
Oh the traveling about…we have been everywhere! And truly it has felt like a party everywhere we go. But everywhere there is a treat, a special prize to be had…and the Half Moon Library on April 29th, was no exception.
Beforehand, Matthew shared with me that he thought Armando Ramirez, the Librarian who invited me to the event, and I were old friends because of the way he worded his email to us. I laughed. “Nah, we’re just Mexican.” I joked, “I don’t think we’ve ever met, he just needed a favor.” I was joking, but the truth is that at times, cultural differences are clear and do bond us. It’s not that Mexicans are friends right off the bat. Of course not, life is not that simple. But there is a sentiment, a cultural aura that has been handed down to us through???eating tamales only our grandmother could have made, the bond of menudo, nature, sangre?, genes, or just culture??? Truly, it is impossible to pinpoint the heart of a Mexican. But as each race knows, there is something that is inherent to each of us. It may be tagged as a stereotype or a profile by outsiders, but there is a heart within us that remains uniquely our own, a shared navigational tool to face the reality of “westernization” through centuries of familial colonization… or possibly just this moment.
As I suspected, when I met Armando, he felt like family, a familiar fellow.
We set up for the event. We played with fantastically awesome kids who looked just like me or the kids in my books. It was good. Together, we read I Know the River Loves Me (see video below) and later Continue reading »
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Teacher Appreciation Week
This is one festive week! Not only is it Cinco de Mayo today but also, this entire week allows us to appreciate all the hard work and dedication of our teachers! Of course we appreciate and applaud our teachers every day but it’s nice to have a dedicated week to celebrate them. And of course coming up on Sunday, May 9th is Mother’s Day. So there’s lots of reasons to celebrate and be proud!
With all the wonderful festivities in store it seemed like the perfect time for a SALE. From now until May 15th, all of our 9×11 Archival Art Prints from Maya’s numerous children’s books are on sale for $25. That’s a savings of $10! Plus 5% of our sales continue to be contributed to Children’s Book Press in support of their continuing commitment to providing first voice, multicultural, multilingual children’s books. We’ve even added some new prints to the mix just for the occasion. View our Etsy shop for available prints and to purchase.
Our art prints are printed on High Quality Archival Paper using Claria Archival Inks. Prints are individually signed by Maya and come with an insert which indicates what book the illustration was created for and includes information about the artist. Continue reading »
Filed under General | Tags: celebration, cinco de mayo, Etsy, illustrations, promotions, sale | Comment (0)Celebrating Día in Vallejo
Saturday, April 24th, we drove up to Vallejo. I didn’t know it was so very water-y around there. I’ve only lived here for 16 years and driven over the Carquinas bridge countless times! I now understand that the San Pablo Bay is enormous and stunning on a sunny day. Water, water everywhere!
When we arrived, we walked into the full swing of Día events at JFK Library. The big room was packed with families watching the tail end of a puppet show. Then we watched as the rows of chairs were strategically moved about to include tables and a great feast began. After we were all full of tamales and salsa (they even had a salsa that had a bit of a bite to it!) I asked the children to join me on the floor. I had decided Continue reading »
Let the Festivities Begin – Celebrating Día in West Sacramento
We headed to Sacramento for a gorgeous drive from San Francisco last Saturday, April 17, to our first Día de los Niños event this year at the Arthur F. Turner Community Library. I’m always happy to go to Sacramento. It reminds me of being a kid and going to see the State Capitol. My father would stop at each and every Historical Landmark and noteworthy piece of local information on the way there. I love the shape of the town, the streets and parks. Matthew and I have had cause to go there a lot in the last couple of years and it feels familiar in parts. Sacramento has that Continue reading »
El Día de los Niños Coloring Page
To celebrate all the Día events we will be attending this year, we’ve created a coloring page to download. View and download it from our main site.
Can you find all the things that start with the letter “B”?
Hope to see you at some of the events this month! For a listing of the events Maya will be presenting at, visit our Día blog post.
Filed under Events, General | Tags: celebration, children, el dia de los libros, el dia de los niños, fun | Comment (0)
