Nancy Maria Grande Tabor is the author of several bilingual books for Charlesbridge, including EL GUSTO DEL MERCADO MEXICANO/A TASTE OF THE MEXICAN MARKET, SOMOES UN ARCOS IRIS/WE ARE A RAINBOW, CINCUENTA EN LA CEBRA/FIFTY ON THE ZEBRA, and ALBERTINA ANDA ARRIBA/ALBERTINA GOES UP. Nancy is a bilingual teacher in Sonoma, California. She often speaks at schools, libraries, and conferences to emphasize the need for language-rich books in Spanish. She stresses the importance of understanding other cultures and the reflection of culture through literature in both her presentations and her books.

Using very simple cut-paper art, the author-illustrator explores what can happen when someone goes from one country to another. There a re new faces and places and sometimes the climate, plants, customs, food, and people's skin color can be different, too. When our words differ and we cannot understand one another, people sometimes feel bad, fight, and hurt one another. The author urges the listener to stop and think, "Are we really as different as we think?" With the simple analogy of the benefit the sun and the rain bring to flowers, she suggests that we use our tears and smiles to help friendship grow because friendships, like rainbows, are for everyone. A very simply written and effective book to help young children understand and accept their cultural differences. Would be wonderful to initiate discussions in primary classes in every elementary school.
--BayViews

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing

Pub date: 1995-02-01

Length: 32 pages