Coyote School News (edition 2003)

Coyote School News is a story about a boy named Ramon Ernesto Ramirez who lived on a ranch, Rancho San Isidro that his great grandfather built when the land was part of Mexico. The ranch became a part of southeastern Arizona in 1854 when the United States purchased land from Mexico. This story takes place in 1938. Ramon attends the coyote school with 11 other children and the school was a big part of his life. Ramon’s uncle or tio, as they say in Spanish, is the school bus driver. The school bus isn’t like the buses of today; it was just a small old model car. This story takes the reader through Ramon’s adventures at school and at home and shows the reader what life was like as an Mexican-American boy living on a ranch in the 1930’s.

I absolutely loved this story because I can make a personal connection with the story. I am from Arizona and have lived in some of the places mentioned in the story. The story refers to a very popular rodeo and parade (La Fiesta de los Vaqueros) that occurs in Tucson every year, and I can remember my children being out of school on the days of the Rodeo. Growing up around this culture, (Arizona has a high population of Hispanics) I am also very familiar with the Mexican traditions that take place in the story. It made feel as though I was home for a moment.

This story would be a great addition to a classroom library. The book has a listing of Spanish words that were used in the story with the American translation and pronunciation key. I would teach my students Spanish words from the story and encourage the Hispanic children in our class to help out with the activity. The story makes reference to piñatas and Mexican cuisine such as queso, tamales, tortillas and chilies. It would be fun to have a fiesta celebration in our class to celebrate the Hispanic culture and to learn about it. We would do some of the activities mentioned in the book and celebrate the way the children at the coyote school did. ( )