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Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin, Harlequin
The story of a boy in a harlequin costume who does not want to leave the Mardi Gras festivities when his family calls him introduces information on traditional carnival celebrations in New Orleans.
30 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2006
About the author
Alma Flor Ada
677 books188 followers(http://facebook.com/almaflorada)
Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education
She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People
She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association
A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.
The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.
She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)
and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)
and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.
Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana
Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.
Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education
She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People
She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association
A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.
The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.
She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)
and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)
and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.
Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana
Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 16, 2023
Yes, I do agree with my Goodreads friend Kathryn's assessment that Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy's picture book about Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) celebrations in New Orleans, that Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin is rather lacking and a trifle frustrating.
However, my issues with regard to Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin actually do not have anything to do with the presented story, with the fictional part of of Celebrate Mardi Gras With Joaquin. For unlike Kathryn, who has found the plot for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin of a dressed as the popular Mardi Gras character Harlequin named Joaquin getting separated from his family during the festivities and going home with the wrong parents (as there are of course so many identically clad as Harlequin children around) disturbing (but that I can certainly understand this scenario feeling potentially a bit worrying to and for in particular parents with young children), I have to admit that as a story in an of itself Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin rather does make me smile. Because for for one, Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin sure reminds me of the many television situation comedies where during Halloween episodes parents come home with the wrong costumed child. And for two, yes, I did encounter a number of German language picture books about Carnival as a child with the exact same featured theme and contents (and I must admit that I absolutely loved these books although the family members reading them to me most certainly did not and found them rather problematic, which I in turn found quite perversely and intensely fun as a youngster).
But although the story itself for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin I have found delightful, no, I do consider Eugenia Nobati's accompanying artwork while indeed colourful and lively not all that visually appealing, with in particular the human figures, their square heads and rather stoney and unmoving expressions (stares) feeling aesthetically strange and not all that pleasant (and sorry, all of the young children dressed up as Harlequin, they really do look rather ugly to and for me). And considering what Alma Flor Ada presents as factual information regarding Mardi Gras, Carnival etc. at the back of Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin is not really sufficiently extensive (even for a picture book), that there is no included bibliography and that only Carnival celebrations in the Americas and not in Europe are being mentioned, in my opinion, only the story part of Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin has been truly enjoyable for me (and that my three star rating for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin is actually rather quite generous and is only three stars because especially my inner child has really enjoyed reading about Joaquin and his experiences during Mardi Gras, and in particular Joaquin getting lost and being collected by the wrong family due to his Harlequin outfit).
However, my issues with regard to Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin actually do not have anything to do with the presented story, with the fictional part of of Celebrate Mardi Gras With Joaquin. For unlike Kathryn, who has found the plot for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin of a dressed as the popular Mardi Gras character Harlequin named Joaquin getting separated from his family during the festivities and going home with the wrong parents (as there are of course so many identically clad as Harlequin children around) disturbing (but that I can certainly understand this scenario feeling potentially a bit worrying to and for in particular parents with young children), I have to admit that as a story in an of itself Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin rather does make me smile. Because for for one, Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin sure reminds me of the many television situation comedies where during Halloween episodes parents come home with the wrong costumed child. And for two, yes, I did encounter a number of German language picture books about Carnival as a child with the exact same featured theme and contents (and I must admit that I absolutely loved these books although the family members reading them to me most certainly did not and found them rather problematic, which I in turn found quite perversely and intensely fun as a youngster).
But although the story itself for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin I have found delightful, no, I do consider Eugenia Nobati's accompanying artwork while indeed colourful and lively not all that visually appealing, with in particular the human figures, their square heads and rather stoney and unmoving expressions (stares) feeling aesthetically strange and not all that pleasant (and sorry, all of the young children dressed up as Harlequin, they really do look rather ugly to and for me). And considering what Alma Flor Ada presents as factual information regarding Mardi Gras, Carnival etc. at the back of Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin is not really sufficiently extensive (even for a picture book), that there is no included bibliography and that only Carnival celebrations in the Americas and not in Europe are being mentioned, in my opinion, only the story part of Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin has been truly enjoyable for me (and that my three star rating for Celebrate Mardi Gras with Joaquin is actually rather quite generous and is only three stars because especially my inner child has really enjoyed reading about Joaquin and his experiences during Mardi Gras, and in particular Joaquin getting lost and being collected by the wrong family due to his Harlequin outfit).
February 15, 2023
This book is just too all-over-the-place to be really effective, IMO. The story itself is about families participating in a mardi gras parade but the son, dressed in a harlequin costume, gets separated and from the family. Other boys are also dressed in identical harlequin costumes and families mistakenly reclaim "their" sons only to realize they've picked up the wrong harlequins. Kinda troubling! It's all sorted out (somehow) but it just doesn't really seem like a good idea for a story that is meant to be about togetherness and celebration. The back matter attempts to be educational about mardi gras but it's mostly just very brief factoids such as it's a carnival that means "fat Tuesday" in French and it's a costume party in the streets. Nothing particularly illuminating. I appreciate that actual photographs from carnivals around the world are included, but the context is confusing because it seems like they are all from New Orleans as you read along, only at the end with the photo credits are the photos labeled by country. I appreciate the intent here, and the author and illustrator include a kind note about Hurricane Katrina as that occurred just as this book was going to publication, but the overall presentation wasn't satisfying to me and I also didn't like the illustration style.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews