Pat Mora's Blog, page 79

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's design Día programs and celebrations that—though they may include food, music, dancing and prizes—create positive and memorable literacy experiences for attendees.
 
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's assist school and public libraries to diversify their collections to reflect our national diversity and global connections. 
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's remember that effective advocates need to endure the challenges of learning new skills; in Día's case: partnership building, fund raising, marketing, publicity, public speaking, social networking, true collaboration.
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Colorín Colorado Videos

My deep thanks again to Lydia Breiseth and her team at WETA for sharing these video clips.  Colorín Colorado has been an outstanding Día supporter.



View  recent interview with Colorín Colorado.

Visit Dia resources on Colorín Colorado's website.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's create Día planning communities locally and nationally that reflect the diversity we espouse, and let's invite social service agencies, the media, the young and seniors to enrich our work.
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

NCTE Supports Día

From April 5 issue of the NCTE Inbox:




Celebrate El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day)
In its 2005 Resolution, NCTE supports El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day) because the day recognizes that students who participate in culturally and linguistically diverse literacy activities at home, in school, and in the community are more successful readers. Use the ReadWriteThink calendar entry and celebrate Día on April 30!

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's thank and celebrate our partners again and again.
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Día Events in New Mexico and San Francisco

Flo Trujillo at the Farmington Public Library and Barbara VanderBorght at San Francisco Public Library sent in news about Dia events.


Día events throughout the month of April in New Mexico are a kick off to Summer Reading at NM libraries!

Libraries, community centers, 21st Century afterschool, Boys & Girls Clubs and faith-based communities along with New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez recognize the importance of literacy.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the San Francisco Día 2011, we will be at the Main Library for our big celebration on April 24. Putting the event together this year was a challenge, as the downturn in the economy had a big effect: planning group members had to drop out, no new funding came in and there was a big increase in permit fees as we attempted to go back to our community park location, but we were determined to make Día happen!


Using remaining funds, trimming our operating costs and with the free use of the Library, we are putting on a celebration that still features wonderful multiethnic performances; our Spanish bilingual child/family issues radio hosts; literacy based hands-on art activities and a children's book giveaway for all participants.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día
Let's question our assumptions about how to reach our goals and who our appropriate partners can be.
I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia's 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Cinco Puntos Press Celebrates 25 Years and Día

We asked Lee Byrd to talk with us about publishing, creativity and Día.  
My name is Lee Byrd. My husband Bobby and I are both writers. In 1985, we started Cinco Puntos Press. Funny, how things start, take root and grow—we were sick and tired of working for other people, we had three kids to support, and we wanted more time to write. (If you need more time to write, don't start a publishing company!) We had no idea what publishers did, but luckily we had a lot of friends whose work we admired who weren't getting published; and we had another friend who knew how to design books.

Our first book was Winners on the Pass Line , a collection of short stories by Dagoberto Gilb; our second, a book of poems by Joe Somoza. Then we met Joe Hayes. He was traveling all over the Southwest telling stories to kids. They loved him! We asked him if we could publish a book of his and he said it would have to be La Llorona / The Weeping Woman because that was the story the kids wanted to hear the most. And we would need to do it in a bilingual format because that was the way he liked to tell stories. Thus began our journey into children's literature. Twenty-five years have passed and we're still learning, each book—whether for kids or adults—taking us into new and miraculous territory.

Publishing is very creative work. Like writing, it's a marvelous act of self-discovery. A manuscript comes to us. We love it. We see it opening up new doors of understanding to readers. But how to present it, how to get it illustrated or designed and who will do that? Who is the audience and how best to present it to that audience? When the book arrives from the printer, we all feel like its proud parents. It's such a creative and collaborative process, no one knows exactly where his or her work started and where someone else picked it up.

At Cinco Puntos, we love El día de los niños, El día de los libros because we see the festivities surrounding it and the excitement that the kids have as a way of raising up the next generation of readers, who will, hopefully, read books that we—and our colleagues in this incredible work—have created.

John, Lee and Bobby Byrd