Pat Mora's Blog, page 63

“Take time to look.”

Santa Fe is known for its beautiful high desert landscape, rich cultural diversity, fabulous food, and wonderful art. I confess, I’m not as good as I should be about visiting museums here, but the other day, I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and saw their current exhibit on Georgia in New Mexico.

I wanted to share one of the few paintings that I could photograph, “Church Steeple,” 1930. I’ve always been fond of O’Keeffe quotes such as, “Take time to look.” Her work invites us to do just th...

Passionate Commitment

Sunset clouds over Race Point, Cape Cod. Photo by Sally Lindsay.

I never saw Sister Wendy when she was a TV star sharing her love of art. Organizing some of my books on spirituality yesterday, I saw her four small books on peace, silence, love, and joy. I try to have some meditative quiet time in the morning, and read her book on peace today. I particularly liked the sentence, “Peace does not reject our longings, it is warm, not cold – a passionate commitment to becoming a full person.”
Sister...

Watching The Buddha

I had the good fortune to see the 2010 PBS video about Buddha recently. It’s available online.

We are all weary of our violent, fast-paced world. This evocative video with lovely visuals, images, and informative and inspiring interviews, reminded me of the importance of Waking Up! to the wonder of the present moment, of striving on in a compassionate and gentle manner, of cherishing our world and its creatures.

Photo by Sally Lindsay. Cloudcliff Buddha, Santa Fe NM

The post Watching The Buddha a...

Nominate your Día for the 2013 Mora Award

The deadline for the 2013 Mora Award is approaching — it’s August 15. Lupita Vega, chair of the REFORMA Mora Award Committee, writes:

If your library, school, educational institute, or youth-serving organization hosted a fantastic celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), consider nominating it for REFORMA’s 2013 Estela and Raúl Mora Award.

The Award has been presented annually since 2000 to the most exemplary program celebrating El día de los niños/El...

National Children’s Book Day in the Philippines

Congratulations to all those who celebrated the 30th National Children’s Book Day in the Philippines on July 16. Events continue throughout the month including the awarding of illustrator and writer prizes, forums about reading, children’s theatre, and a seminar on library activities and book reviewing. You can read details on the Paper Tigers blog and Tarie Sabido’s blog Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind.

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Talking About Books and Reading

Listen and watch Pat and her daughter Libby (and new co-author!) talk about books and reading.

Latinas for Latino Literature features this video as their Video of the Week as part of their Summer Reading program.

Pat and Libby’s first picture book together is I Pledge Allegiance with illustrations by Patrice Barton. It’s published by Knopf/Random House and will be available in April 2014.

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A Response to “Why Hasn’t the Number of Multicultural Books Increased In Eighteen Years?”

I read this article with great interest. I’ve been writing about the need for children’s literature that reflects our reality for over twenty years. I remember sitting in an audience and hearing Virginia Hamilton and Arnold Adoff ask the same question. In 1998, I wrote a piece entitled “Confessions of a Latina Author.” What have I learned? What changes are needed to produce necessary change?

The Diversity Gap in Children’s Books – click to see on the Lee & Low blog

1. Although children’s publis...

A Cover Reveal!

What better day to reveal the cover for Pat’s forthcoming book, I Pledge Allegiance, written with her daughter Libby Martinez, and illustrated by Patrice Barton.

See a larger image.

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Today is …

Enjoy Summer Reading!

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A Prayer Basket

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Do you believe in the power of prayer? And do you have trouble at times remembering the people and issues you wish to pray for? I do. Some years back, my dear friend Father Murray Bodo, who has given me many good ideas, suggested a prayer practice.

In a basket, he puts slips of paper on which he has written the names of those he wants to pray for or for his current intentions. During his daily time for reflection, he can hold the basket rather than focusing on a memory exe...