Poems to Dream Together/poemas Para Sonar Juntos: Poemas Para Sonar Juntos

by Francisco X. Alarcón

A collection of poems in English and Spanish discusses imagination, dreams, family, and growing up in California and in Mexico.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Latinx, Spanish Literature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2005

Reviews

[Caterina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, lovely, uplifting book of simple free verse poetry for children, in Spanish and English translation, by poet-educator Francisco X. Alarcón, on vibrant two-page illustrations by Paula Barragán, about many different kinds of dreams -- with themes centered on family, community, work, and hope for a better future world. This would be perfect for integrated teaching of poetry, art, Spanish and English language arts and social studies. It could inspire individual or collaborative student writing and art projects. The poems increase somewhat in complexity and vocabulary as the book progresses. Some are whimsical, like Una Cebolla Feliz/One Happy Onion others more serious like Soñador de los Campos/Dreamer of the Fields. -- about the dedication of the children's newly named César Chávez Elementary School. The poems in Spanish seem to have a bit more poetic language and wordplay; I’m guessing he wrote them as poems in Spanish and then translated the meanings.



With my own new little prickly pear cactus bush ready for harvest, I couldn't help but choose this poem to give you a little taste.

Mi Abuelita Es Como
Un Nopal En Flor

cada otoño
los nopales
de mi casa
y del barrio
se llenan
de tunas

mi abuelita
canta alegre
cuando pizca
las tunas que
ella sabe están
maduras y dulces

con tenazas
y cuchillo
mi abuelita
pela tunas
--las delicias
del desierto

como sabe que
estas suculencias
también son de veras
mi fruta favorita
mi abuelita me guiña
el ojo sin parar


My Grandma is Like
A Flowering Cactus

every fall
the nopales
around my house
and neighborhood
are laden with
prickly pears

my grandma
sings with joy
when she picks
the prickly pears
she knows are
ripe and sweet

tongs and
knife in hand
my grandma
peels prickly pears
--the delicacies
of the desert

since she knows
these succulents
are also my favorite
fruits by far
my grandma can't
stop winking at me.

I did not know the sweet purple fruits were called tunas -- nothing to do with the fish! I look forward to singing with joy when I harvest them for the very first time this month and turn them into delicious spiced jelly. Or such is my dream ...


Opuntia engelmannii, the kind growing in my yard and around my neighborhood. I somewhat wish I had planted the new spineless variety for ease of harvest...but the idea of a nonprickly prickly pear ... i don't know ...around here a plant needs its defenses... but surely the idea was born from someone's dream and I notice the poor spineless plants are being used in educational gardens for children at schools and libraries ...

[Lauren Panella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems to Dream Together, by Francisco X. Alarcón, is a multicultural collection of poems written in both English and Spanish. While these poems touch on a variety of cultural aspects, the overarching theme that the author strives to portray is global unity. Throughout the book, a young boy's dream is illustrated through poetry and beautiful illustrations-- that all living beings can come together as one, regardless of differences between individuals. This book provides opportunities for English-speaking students to get familiar with Spanish, and Spanish-speaking students to practice English.

This is an impactful book for elementary grades 2-5. It can be utilized in the classroom in a variety of ways, but one specific way I would use this with my students is during a poetry unit in 4th or 5th grade. I would have students create their own poem that encompasses characteristics and details from their culture to tell a story of who they are. This would be a great way to get students engaged in the topic of culture, while also demonstrating their creativity with poems.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems to Dream Together/ Poemas Para Soñar Juntos by Francisco X. Alarcón
Illustrated by Paula Barragán
Ages K-9
32p Publisher: Lee & Low Books 2005

This text is composed of bilingual poems that represent Alarcón’s vision of a society that values family, dreams, education, community, and peace. The free verse poems are short, and reflect the experiences of children in daily life such as working together, dreaming, and preparing for the future. In the poem “Family Garden,” Alarcon demonstrates his strong belief in a supportive, central family with the lines “all in our family/ take time to tend/ each other’s dreams.” Barragán beautifully illustrates the poems with bright, energetic, colors, often against dark backgrounds. Her rich illustrations resemble paper cut figures that children often create in school, which is very inviting to younger readers.
I enjoyed reading this book immensely. I speak Spanish and liked the bilingual aspect of the pages having one English version and one Spanish version of each poem. While the book is especially suited for students in elementary school, I believe the concepts expressed are excellent for exploration and discussion for older students as well. The poems written in Spanish do not use difficult words, and would be enriching for any middle or early high school Spanish class.

[Brooklynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems to Dream Together is a wonderful multicultural text for elementary students. Each page has a new poem in Spanish and English reflecting culture and life experiences. The overall theme is about dreaming about coming together as a community and realizing we can all live in peace regardless of our differences. This book would be great to teach about community and especially Hispanic culture. Students could discuss differences between their communities and cultures and then discuss real world issues and their dreams about living in peace and respecting each others' cultures. This book is a WOW book because it discusses the real world issues of peace and respect for each other in a beautiful way. It pulls in aspects of different students' cultures and really aims to highlight how amazing it is to live in a world with so many different cultures. Through this book, students also become exposed to many different forms of poetry and have a chance to read in Spanish and English, which would be great for English Language Learners.

[528_Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opinion: I liked this book. The poems only had a slight touch on the Mexican culture, but the after reading the introduction I was curious to read the rest of the book. The book is a bilingual book with the poems written in Spanish and English. The author grew up in Mexico and California, so it was inspiring to hear the poetry of someone who truly has a dual culture in their lives.

Summary: This books focuses on poems about the authors past and future, dreams, ecology, education and peace. The poems are short, to the point and well done.

Grades: K+

School Ideas:
-Take the titles of the poems and use them for writing prompts for the students. See how they can incorporate their culture into the poems.
- Use to support the book Esperanza Rising

Red Flags: none
Background Needed: None

[Precious Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The multicultural and diverse concept of this book is wonderful. The text is in English and Spanish. The story is about dreaming of everyone coming together and making the world a more better place. He dreams that he and his family come together and up keep their community while helping others as well. These poems are motivational to children who also may want to help their family become just as close as boy in the book. This book can be used in grades 3-5th.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of poems related primarily through their connection to dreams. My favorite poem was "Para Sonar el Futuro/Dreaming Up the Future."

[Thomas Carrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Sonar Juntos” is a great bilingual poetry text that celebrates the real-world connections children share in their daily lives. Children have dreams and memories with family, community, and living things and these poems embrace their experiences. Award-winning author Francisco Alarcon creates works of art that signifies these dreams and experiences and help the reader understand the power of education, peace, and ecology. His humorous and serious tone in the poems reflect experiences children may go through growing up. The author’s key theme of dreaming is expressed throughout the book with connecting images to dreaming of daydreaming, dreaming about togetherness, dreaming about work, and dreaming about the future. Barragan’s vibrant illustrations presents visuals in the reader’s mind and helps them reflect on circumstances they have been in and will experience in the future.

This book will be a great resource for educators to use in grades 3-5. To fluently understand the text, this book requires the reader to know a lot of sight words, word origins, and vocabulary terms, such as succulents and nopales. This book is a great tool for shared reading, interactive read-alouds, and independent reading. Shared reading and interactive read-alouds can help students understand key terms in stories of families and community and make personal connections to dreams, community, and family in think-pair-share and group activities. English learners and bilingual students can greatly benefit through modeling by the teacher, independent reading, and making connections to the English language. In addition, students can create a collaborative poster that celebrates their families, history, community, and dreams for the future. “Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Sonar Juntos” is a book that persuades readers to dream for a better, more caring and loving world.

[Anna Wakefield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to use for a bilingual classroom when teaching about poetry! The English poems are set next to the Spanish poems, and there’s even an English and a Spanish introduction from the Author.

The poems are so cute and at times thought-provoking. I can’t wait to use this in my classroom! I’m currently creating a lesson plan for it for a school project.

[Britney Forbes]

This book is filled with different bilingual poems. The themes in this book include family, society, education, and dreams. The illustrations look almost as if they were cut-outs made by children which add a really cool aspect. This definitely could be used in a poetry unit, because not only is it beautifully write poetry, but it also promotes diversity as well.

[Laura Aleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love that this book's theme is unity, the dreams dreamt are not possible alone.

[Sarah Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love how this book has everything in Spanish as well as English. It's inclusive, fun, and a wonderful read!! WOULD RECOMMEND!!

[Jessica Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of bilingual poems written for Spanish and English speaking students. The poems celebrate the connections children share with their families, communities, and all living things. Some of the poems are more serious describing childhood memories and others are more comical describing nature and the future. Some poems also provide insight to the importance of education and peace. These poems are actually based on the author's real experiences and are reflections about his own dreams for himself and his family. I really enjoyed reading the poems in English and then looking at them in Spanish as well. This book is great for students learning either Spanish or English because it provides both translations side by side. The illustrations throughout the book also provide colorful ideas that relate to the poems and really help tell the story of each poem.

This books gives students an opportunity to learn about different ways poems are written. It teaches the reader how to be creative in writing and expressing their feelings and dreams through poetry. This would be a great book to read aloud in class to begin talking about writing poetry. I would read this to my class and lead a discussion about the meaning behind the poems and what feeling they had from hearing all of these poems. We would talk about different languages and look at both translations of each poem. I would ask them to brainstorm ideas about what that they would want to express in writing poetry. This book would provide the students guidance and ideas about poems and ways to write them. I would then give my students an opportunity to write their poems and draw pictures just like we saw through the book. We would share them as a class and have time to talk about each one and give the student authors an opportunity to tell everyone about their feelings and ideas behind their poem.

[Megan Bernhard]

Poems to Dream Together is a bilingual collection of children's poetry. The poems vary in length but all are about the connections that children share with the things around them. The poems are first given in Spanish and then an English translated version follows. This layout would be very helpful in a bilingual classroom or it could be used to aid a student who is learning a new language. You could ask a studnt to take the language they are more familiar with and put it into their own words in the less familiar language and then compare their translation to the poem. Each poem is very simplistic in nature but I think that some students might have a difficult time understanding their simplicity. For example, The Same is a poem that says "we are all the same like pebbles in a riverbed each of us so different". I think some students would have a hard time breaking this poem down. However, other poems really make you think and can open the door to many possibilities such as the poem Questions or Daydreaming. Poems such as Adobes and Family Garden can be used to start an instructional lesson in science or social studies. The vivid illustrations throughout this collection lend hand to the element of images. This collection brings clear images to the mind but at the same time still leaves images slightly open ended in that the reader can create their own images. The open endedness allows the reader to broaden their insight.

[Madison Tumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel this is a really good book to do with ESL and bilingual students. It brings in lots of different ideas and meanings.

[Jessica Scranton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems to Dream Together is a book of children’s poetry. The poems in this book are in both English and Spanish. First the author wrote the poems in Spanish, and then the translated English version follows. I thought it was very interesting to read both the Spanish and English translations. All of the poems were different when it comes to length, some were long and some were short. Overall the poems were about children and how they feel about different things in their life. The poems in this book are very simple and also very meaningful. I really enjoyed the fact that the author provided both English and Spanish. I think this would be a great book for a bilingual classroom or to read to students who are trying to learn Spanish. The author did a good job painting a picture in the reader’s heads. It is obvious that the author feels strongly about these two cultures and he brought them both together in a way both children and adults can enjoy. I enjoyed this story and I can see myself using it in my future classroom. practicing multiculturalism is extremely important and this would be a great book for kids to learn and enjoy the two languages.

[Tibby]

This is a beautiful collection of poems about dreams from Alarcon (who visited our school a number of years ago!). The poems are all fairly short, but they really lend themselves to discussing the craft of poetry. There is a fair amount of word play and a need to understand that dreams and dreaming can mean a lot of different things to different people.

I think this is a great book for exposing children to beautiful poetry, but I really think it would make a great read and discuss book for parents and children or for a class. The book also clearly shares some of Alaracon’s experiences growing up and talks about his family which makes for more interesting discussion about how he has shared these memories as poems instead of short stories or picture books.

The dual language format makes the book accessible to a lot more kids and families (hopefully). Our students take a foreign language in lower school so I included it on the list for anyone who may also be interested in hearing the language they are learning and for kids who might be able to identify a word here or there.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd-7th Grade
Francisco X. Alarcon's collection of poems are around the theme of some sort of dream state. There are joyous poems and poems that are more surreal, somethimes they are very relistic but others are fantasy. Kids will really enjoy the illustrations that were done by Paula Barragan, they look like traditional Mexican folk art in very vibrant colors. Every poem is written in both spanish and english, without any punctuation throughout the book. The poems are of varying lengths and combine humor and hope for the dreams to continue. I really enjoyed this book and felt that many ages would benefit from these poems and the meanings that were conveyed.
Foreign languages/ social emotional learning - Lessons can be built around these poems with classes studying spanish, have the students translate try to translate by using the illustrations and their limited spanish vocabulary.

[Anabel]

In this collection of poetry, Francisco X. Alarcon offers children the motivation and perspective necessary for them to begin thinking about the future in a positive manner. Alarcon is actually a Chicago poet that writes with the purpose of inspiring children to keep dreaming and follow their dreams. One of my favorite poems was titled Dreaming Up the Future. This particular poem invites children to think about what they want to be when they grow up and to think about how they are going to get there. I particularly like the Alarcon’s style of writing and the fact that he includes a Spanish and English version of all his poems. However, I think some of the English poems simply don’t “flow” due to the fact that they were originally written in Spanish and then translated into English. The use of bright colors and collage like illustrations add a special yet unique effect to the poetry itself.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining collection of poems about dreams. The poems are short and often speak to the author's family and/or childhood.


interesting quote:

Dreaming Up the Future

let us see ourselves
twenty years from now -
who is now the nurse
the doctor who can heal

who is now the teacher
who can teach and learn
from students as well
the actor making us laugh

the lawyer who defends
the poor; the innocent
the activist who strives
for a better world for all

who is now the mother
the father who help
a son or a daughter
to stay on in school

the scientist, the artist
the poet, who dream up
- in their own ways -
solutions to old questions

the best way for making
our dreams come true
is to dream on and on
and never stop dreaming (p. 31)

[Lauren Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, a great-grandchild of Mexican immigrants, has many culturally relevant topics to contribute in his poems. He was born in California but raised in Mexico. Each poem has a different message to convey. The overarching themes throughout are of global unity, acceptance, helping others, growing dreams of those you love, togetherness, hard work, dedication, and hope for the future. This story invites conversation for all to begin talking about helping the marginalized, poor, and wanting a better world for ALL people. The illustrations used were abstract, yet realistic of the people, places, and activities being described. I got a feeling of love and making the world a better place through these poems. I am definitely going to purchase this book and would recommend it to children and adults alike!

[Darrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of Spanish and English poems. The author writes each poem in Spanish as well as English to reflect the cultural influences from his early life in Mexico and California. Alarcon drew inspiration from students' writings about their dreams and aspirations as well as the history of his own family. Working as field workers in Texas they managed to become one of the first families to settle in Wilmington, California. Alarcon dedicates this book to his father and the children who taught him how to dream. The artistic work within Poems To Dream Together is rich, bold and bright thanks to hand sketches and cut paper done by Paula Barragan. Share this story with your class to create your own book of poetry. What is somehting that the class aggrees is special.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Sonar Juntos is a collection of poetry written in both English and Spanish. They are poems that are about life and are relatable for young kids as well as anyone that is Mexican-American or latino. There are a variety of poems that are about school, dreams, and nature. The poems are usually next to each other in each language on the pages which makes it easy for ELL's.

The illustrations are a bit surreal even though they are drawings of people and the southwest. The art style is also southwestern and the poetry is all freeform. I wish that when the poems were translated they rhymed though, because they sound beautiful in Spanish. It is a really cool idea for a poetry book that I haven't seen before.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must for any bilingual or dual language (Spanish/English) classroom. It is evident that the author is not just fluent in both Spanish and English, but that he lives, breathes, and dreams in both languages. Sometimes writing is awkward or conveys a slightly different meaning when translated from one language to another. In this case, however, Mr. Alarcon expresses, with the same emotion and lyrical quality, his dreams from one version of the poem to the other. Thus, reading these poems in either Spanish or English will give you the same sense of satisfaction, doubly so if you can enjoy them in both.

[Annie Combest-friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is a great form to convey ideas. This book takes it to the next step because it translates each poem either from English to Spanish or visa versa. This makes a great book to connect bilingual family members and for those who want to learn more about either language. This makes the book inclusive to a variety of people. The poems vary in size and difficulty making it an ideal bedtime read for children in the 2nd through 4th grade range though it can vary depending on reading level. These stories or ideas that the book covers are about family, friends, and culture which could be a great starting point to learning something new.

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

ALA Notable Children's Books - Middle Readers Category: 2006


Award Winning Chicano Poet, Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a beautiful collection of bilingual poems that encompass the experience of dreaming in two languages. His poems cover topics like daydreaming, dreams of the future, and even a dedication to the dream of Cesar Chavez. Alarcon reminds us that poetry can have rhythm, but not necessarily have to rhyme. The poems vary in length and depth, so it is suitable for a readaloud or a close read. A great recommendation for all ages, especially those who are learning two languages.

[Savanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: Poems to Dream Together is a collection of poems by Francisco Alarcon written in both English and Spanish. Some of the poems are about dreaming, others are school related, all are things that children might relate to.

I liked it. The pictures had a Mexican influence in them which really matched the authors Mexican Heritage. I think that this is a great book for white American children because it will remind them that they are not the only people on the earth.

Poetry

I don't think that there is anything controversial in this book.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This absolutely beautiful book of bilingual poetry is all about dreaming; The dreams of parents for their children, the dreams of children, and dreams of what what their futures might hold. Francisco Alarcon writes that these "poems...will help you understand the importance of education, ecology, and peace." The illustrations are bright and cheerful.

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the same poems in Spanish and English right next to each other. It would be good for use with ESL students that speak Spanish as their native language. The English version of the poems lost its rhyming component when it was translated though.

[Liliane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and easy read poetry book!I would recommend it to children who are learning to read Spanish/English since it is bilingual. Children can look back and forth with these poems since the translation is precise. I love the colorful illustrations.