Francisco X. Alarcon (1954–2016)

Most of the best children's poetry that I've seen is simple bright metaphor, like this:

_*A Blank White Page*_

is a meadow
after a snowfall
that a poem
hopes to cross

But this book also has little story poems like _*Migrant Life in Seasons*_. And it has snapshots of places and people in the neighborhood, like the description of Rocking Rafael the singing cable car conductor.

The exuberant pictures create a corresponding glow in the reader's spirit. I would totally use this in Spanish class in High show more School. And I will look for the other three in the set. And if I had kids, I would buy the set to share with them. show less

Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems combine short unconnected poems with fantastic illustrations. Each page was alive and entertaining an full of color. I love that this book celebrated Mexican culture and various foods (and even Cesar Chavez at one point) in both English and Spanish. The best poem (in my opinion, of course) found in this book is called "Words are Birds". I just love the personification and comparisons made between two seemingly incomparable things like: "the letters on show more this page are the prints they leave by the sea". show less

I'm enjoying all four of these celebrations. I really wish I was a teacher so I could share these poems in two languages with kids. Ages 4 to 104 can appreciate them, and the gloriously fun art that illustrates them. Students of either Spanish or English as a second language would have fun using this as a resource.

The themes of this relate to visiting family, as most poems are memories of a child's visit to his family's home town in Mexico. Some of the poems are almost a page long, almost show more narrative, and some are more like haikus, so there's something for everyone.

I particularly liked this metaphor, explicitly illuminating the theme of family:

_*We Are Trees*_

our roots
connect

with the roots
of other trees

our branches
grow wanting

to reach out
to other branches show less

Following the bilingual theme of his other books, Alarcon takes readers on a journey to LA through his poems. This book is filled with vivid imaginary and metaphors and personification, and follows the theme of fall. I would recommend this book to children in the 3rd-5th grade. ESL students might also like this book because of the English version and then the Spanish version right next to it.