Reviews (10)

Could have been Better for Those in the Know
For those in the know, the book suffers for want of careful editing. It is flawed, for example, by illustrator David Diaz' arrogance in placing his own designs on Quezada's pottery. Had this book been about van Gogh, Picasso or any other well-known artist, it is unlikely he would have portrayed their art with no concern for what it looked like in reality. This puts down Juan Quezada. Diaz also carelessly depicts Quezada building a pot by the continuous-coil method of the Indians of the American Southwest rather than by the distinctive method that he innovated and for which he is known. Better editing would have caught these problems with the illustrations as well as a multitude of minor inaccuracies that occur in the text, nearly one to a page. For example, in speaking of using a bean to burnish pottery, the author comments, "Of course dried beans can be found in any kitchen in the village." The bean in question is an inedible wild bean, the chilicote-not the kind that would normally be found in anyone's kitchen. Such editorial problems do not, however, detract from this production as a children's book. They are the sort that only one in the know would see.

My kid is obsessed with this book
The absorbing subject matter of this book, presented through catchy rhymes and alliteration and strong, colorful illustrations, has completely captured the imagination of my four-year-old.For three days now, he's been "Juan" almost exclusively, following ants to a vein of "the very best clay, all squishy and white," pretending to make vessels for every conceivable purpose, and peppering me with questions about Mexico, pottery-making, and Juan himself.I've had to draw the line at cutting my hair for paintbrushes and gathering the "dried cow manure" left by the neighborhood dogs."The Pot That Juan Built" appeals to pre-schoolers' burgeoning interest in rhyme and other aspects of language; making things out of simple materials; and the world around them generally.I give it my highest recommendation!

Excellent, Beautiful Book!
I'm appalled at the lack of love for this book!I am a teacher of a 3rd grade classroom in California where my children are learing about how humans use the world around them to create their life and build their culture.This book is a perfect tie-in to this concept.The illustrations are beautiful and I found the rhymes to be intelligent and descriptive.Two thumbs up from me, and 48 thumbs up from my class!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art - General    2. Art - History    3. Biography & Autobiography - Art    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    5. Children: Grades 2-3    6. Juvenile Fine Arts    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. People & Places - Mexico    10. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    11. Potters    12. Pottery    13. Quezada, Juan    14. Technique    15. Ceramic arts, pottery, glass    16. Fiction dealing with multiculturalism    17. Mexico    18. Multiculturalism    19. Picture books   

Reviews (2)

Beautiful pictures
The pictures in this book are so detailed. It reminds me so much of many of my family's homes growing up in Texas. Great childrens book.

A great book by a great artist
This is a great book, and Carmen Lomas Garza is a great artist.Everything is so detailed, and she tells you exactly who's who.All her pictures are real memories.There is something going on in every corner ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Family - General    3. Family - Multigenerational    4. Hispanic American families    5. Hispanic Americans    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Kingsville    9. People & Places - Mexico    10. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    11. Social life and customs    12. Spanish: Grades 2-3    13. Texas   

Subjects:  1. All Souls' Day    2. Children's 4-8 - Fiction - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Concepts - Alphabet    6. Holidays & Celebrations - Halloween    7. Holidays & Celebrations - Other, Nonreligious    8. Holidays & Celebrations - Other, Religious    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Juvenile literature    11. Mexico    12. People & Places - Mexico    13. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    14. Social life and customs    15. Juvenile Fiction / Holidays & Festivals / Halloween   

Reviews (3)

I find it still helpful
Because there is so little covering Mesopotamia, I still find this book helpful even if it is not as good as the others in this series. It would be nice if more resources were written on the ancient Mesopotamian culture, especially considering what is happening today. Meanwhile, we will use what we can, including this book, in our homeschooling. We use all the books of this series, the 'Gilgamesh' series by Ludmila Zeman, "Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors-An Activity Guide (including Hittites, Nubians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians), and "Our Young Folks' Josephus" (primary history spine covering Israel and its relationship with the surrounding cultures of that time) in our homeschool. It works well for us.

Disappointing
The editorial review of this series from School Library Journal is wrong.The new editions of these books do not "expand greatly" on the original 1988 editions; they greatly contract.The 1988 edition of the books on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia had eight chapters and 92 pages.This new edition gives them only only six chapters and 64 pages, and the word count per page is reduced. Indeed color pictures and illustrations were added and the glossary expanded, but the text is reduced to about two thirds of the original.Students are better off reading the original editions in the Watts "First Book" series.

Pretty pictures, but not much text
This book is part of the Science of the Past series. This book examines the Mesopotamians' knowledge of medicine, mathematics, astronomy and metallurgy. It concludes with a glossary, and a list of Internet sites.Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Science    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Science    3. Children: Grades 2-3    4. History    5. History - Other    6. Iraq    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. People & Places - Mexico    10. Science    11. Science & Nature - General    12. Science & Technology - General    13. Science, Ancient    14. Sumerians   

Reviews (1)

Calling the Doves
This bilingual picture book tells the story of poet Juan Felipe Herrera's early years with his parents who were migrant farmworkers in California.Herrera's love for his poor hardworking parents is evident. The vibrant, vivid pictures by Elly Simmons combine with Herrera's Spanish/English textto make a delightful children's book that readers of all ages will enjoy! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Agricultural laborers    2. California    3. Childhood and youth    4. Children of migrant laborers    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    6. Herrera, Juan Felipe    7. Homes and haunts    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Juvenile literature    10. Mexican American families    11. People & Places - Mexico    12. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    13. Poetry - General    14. Spanish: Kindergarten   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Children: Grades 2-3    3. Civilization    4. Juvenile Multicultural Studies    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mexican influences    8. Mexico    9. People & Places - General    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. Social Science - Customs, Traditions, Anthropology    12. Spanish: Grades 2-3   

Subjects:  1. 1886-1957    2. Activity programs    3. Appreciation    4. Art    5. Children: Grades 3-4    6. Education / Teaching    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Kahlo, Frida    9. People & Places - Mexico    10. Rivera, Diego,    11. Study & Teaching    12. Study and teaching (Elementary    13. Study and teaching (Elementary)    14. Teaching Methods & Materials - Arts & Humanities    15. Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / Mexico    16. Mexico    17. The Arts: General Issues   

Reviews (1)

good book
this was a pretty good book. however, i am not too interested in the mexican war, so i was not very interested in some parts of the story line, but if u r interested in the mexican war, this book is definetly 4 u! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. All Saints' Day    2. All Souls' Day    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 People & Places    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mexico    8. People & Places - Mexico    9. Social Science - Customs, Traditions, Anthropology    10. Social life and customs    11. Juvenile Nonfiction / Holidays & Festivals / General   

Reviews (1)

Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of Jose Limon
A beautifully illustrated biography of the dancer José Limon, this book has proven to be quite timely in light of recent events surrounding immigration. It chronicles how young José fled Mexico for America and endured ridicule in elementary school for his poor English. Regardless, José's determination to succeed prevailed, and his story always receives cheers when I read it to various elementary classes. To view this and other cool short book recommendations for all ages.[...] ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography - Cultural Heritage    3. Biography & Autobiography - General    4. Biography & Autobiography - Performing Arts    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    6. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    7. Children: Grades 2-3    8. Children: Grades 3-4    9. Choreographers    10. Dancers    11. Juvenile Nonfiction    12. Juvenile literature    13. Limon, Jose    14. People & Places - Mexico    15. Performing Arts - Dance    16. United States   

Subjects:  1. Children    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 People & Places    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Description and travel    5. Juvenile Multicultural Studies    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile Travel    8. Juvenile literature    9. Mexico    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. Social life and customs    12. Travel   

Reviews (2)

BRILLIANT !Mexico's brightcolorsincreaseourOptimism . . .
COLORS bring optimism into our lives. In this book the first drawings introduce BLANCO withwhite skeletons & masks, etc., that are used to decorate for a favorite celebration, the Day of the Dead. Those pictures should keep the kids turning the pages!
My student enjoyed this book.
My students enjoyed this culturally informative book, but all my Spanish speaking students said in one voice, "MORADO" when I read theentry for P?rpura aloud. Other than this we enjoyed this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Children: Grades 1-2    3. Color    4. Colors, Words for    5. Concepts - Colors    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Mexico    9. People & Places - Mexico    10. Geographical information systems (GIS) & remote sensing   

Subjects:  1. Children's 4-8 - Fiction - General    2. Family - Multigenerational    3. Juvenile Customs / Etiquette    4. Juvenile Multicultural Studies    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mexican American families    8. Mexican Americans    9. Paper work    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    12. Social Science - Customs, Traditions, Anthropology    13. Social life and customs    14. Spanish: Grades 3-4   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Children: Grades 1-2    3. Geography    4. Juvenile Geography    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. North America    8. North American    9. People & Places - Canada    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. People & Places - United States   

Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Collection of Poems about Mexico
The book My Mexico - Mio Mexico is an interesting collection of poems about life in Mexico that reaches a broad spectrum of younger readers.As a middle school teacher of Spanish, these poems are excellent examples ofthe differing views of Mexico - from the lament for the Aztecs in"Donde Estan?" to the poem "Soy Cucuracha" which ishumorous and sure to make your students think and laugh!I would highlyrecommend this book to any Spanish or ESL teacher who desires to integrateculture and poetry into his or her lessons!My students have thoroughlyenjoyed the poems we have studied from this book!Bravo y bien hecho! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1942-    2. Bilingual books    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. English-Spanish    6. General    7. Johnston, Tony,    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Mexico    10. People & Places - Central & South America    11. People & Places - Mexico    12. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    13. Poetry    14. Poetry - General    15. Spanish: Grades 1-2    16. Translations into Spanish    17. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / Hispanic & Latino   

Subjects:  1. Art - General    2. Juvenile Nonfiction    3. People & Places - Mexico    4. Spanish: Grades 3-4    5. Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / Mexico   

Reviews (2)

This book should be in the North American section.
This book is wrongly under the section central e South America. It should be under North American section as Mexico is in North America.

Excellent Resource for Teachers!
This book is great!I highly recommend it for teachers looking for resources to teach Mexico!It is suitable for 1st-5th grades (yes, it spans that many!)It's packed with information as well as hands-on activities your students can actively engage in and learn!Excellent! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Activity Books - General    2. Activity programs in education    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 People & Places    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. History - Mexico    6. Juvenile Multicultural Studies    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. Mexico    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. American history    12. Human geography / peoples of the world    13. Interactive & activity books & packs    14. The Americas   

Reviews (2)

Great Book
The Two Mountains is a very beautiful book.I had to do it for a book report and it was an excellent choice.If you haven't read it , or even if you have read it, it is a marvelous book and I will sincerely recommend it for all ages, from little ones to adults.

The Grass Isn't Always Greener
Tonatiuh, the sun god who lives in Third Heaven, had a son named Ixcocauqui whom he loved very much.His son was told that he could explore all that there was to see, but whatever he did he was not go beyond thegarden wall.Curiosity got the best of him.An exciting retelling of thelegend of how the Valley of Mexico came to be.Beautiful and brightlycolored illustrations do a fine job depicting the events in the story andexpress the emotions of the characters involved.A pronunciation guide isincluded for assistance in pronouncing the Aztec names. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aztec mythology    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 2-3    4. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Native American    5. Folklore    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Mexico    9. Mountains    10. People & Places - Mexico    11. Science & Nature - Earth Sciences - Earthquakes & Volcanoes    12. Social Science - Folklore & Mythology    13. Volcanoes   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Festivals    3. Holidays & Celebrations - General    4. Juvenile Multicultural Studies    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mexico    8. People & Places - Mexico    9. People & Places - United States    10. Social Science - Customs, Traditions, Anthropology    11. Social life and customs    12. Spanish: Grades 2-3    13. United States   

Reviews (3)

Learn About the Day of the Dead
"This is an excellent children's picture book to use to introduce the Day of the Dead to your children or class. Through full-page and small color photographs, accompanied by text, photojournalist George Ancona tells the story of how one family honors their deceased relatives by observing the Day of the Dead in their village in Mexico.
Great Children's book
This book explains the celebration "Dia de Muertos" through a story about a boy named, Pablo.The book has many pictures and is an accurate description of Day of the Dead in Mexico.Pablo is honoring his grandmother who died recently.The book shows all the traditional food, the celebration and the meaning behind it all.

Pable Remembers is not just a "children's book".
Pablo Remembers is a beautiful book that explains what the celebration of Day of the Dead is all about.The photos are excellent and even though it is a children's book, I share it with high school students and adults who are unfamiliar with this custom.I think that it describes the preparations and symbolism used in this celebration very well. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. All Souls' Day    2. Ancona, George    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Fasts and feasts    6. Holidays & Celebrations - Other, Nonreligious    7. Holidays & Celebrations - Other, Religious    8. Juvenile Customs / Etiquette    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Juvenile literature    11. Mexico    12. People & Places - Mexico    13. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    14. Social life and customs    15. Juvenile Nonfiction / Holidays & Festivals / Other, Religious   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    2. Children: Grades 1-2    3. Juvenile Nonfiction    4. People & Places - Mexico    5. Juvenile Nonfiction / General