Author : Jane Yolen, Illustrator : David Shannon, Translator : Alma Flor Ada
2nd Grade - 5th Grade

Encuentro
Encounter

Encuentro, Softcover, Spanish, Book, Jane Yolen, David Shannon, Alma Flor Ada, 2nd Grade - 5th Grade, 9780152013424, $7.00
Encounter, Softcover, English, Book, Jane Yolen, David Shannon, 2nd Grade - 5th Grade, 9780152013899, $7.00

$95.92 for the Translation Books by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy Spanish Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 16 Softcover Spanish Books and 1 Boardbook

$86.36 for the Translation Books English Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 15 Softcover English Books

The story of arrival in the Americas, as seen through the eyes of a young indigenous boy. An excellent springboard for reflection and discussion .(3-5)

Listen to Vienna Rose read Encounter to you.  A marvelous example of the magical encounter between a child and books that we wish for all children.

Publishers Weekly : PW's starred review described this "stirring" book as a look at the dark underside of Christopher Columbus's adventure. "The message is blunt but the language in which it is couched is vintage Yolen, lyrical and impassioned. Shannon's visionary style is an ideal complement." Also available in a Spanish-language edition, Encuentro ($6, -201342-3). Ages 6-12.

School Library Journal : Grade 2 - 5-- Readers weary of materials celebrating Columbus and his voyages will be refreshed and intrigued by this thought-provoking picture book. The imaginative story examines the first meeting between Columbus and the indigenous peoples of San Salvador (the Taino) through the eyes of a young native boy. The unnamed narrator has been warned in an ominous dream that the strangers may bring trouble to his people. His concerns are ignored, however, and the Taino greet their guests with customary feasting and gifts, only to be repaid by the abduction of several of their young people. Taken among the captives, the boy escapes and slowly makes his way home, trying to convince others along the way that the Spanish pose a threat, but to no avail. Yolen acknowledges in an author's note that no record of the Tainos' reaction to Columbus's arrival is available; this account is instead an evocative imagining of how things might have been. The haunting story is perfectly complemented by Shannon's powerful acrylic paintings. He mentions that, in fact, the Taino did not wear clothing, but feels that his decision to clothe them does not interfere with the plausibility or effectiveness of his presentation. A book that offers readers an alternative perspective on a well-known and much-celebrated historical event.

Kirkus Reviews : A poignant account of Columbus's landfall in the Americas, from a Taino boy's point of view. After a terrible prophetic dream, the lad begs his elders not to welcome the strangers, but they disregard him. He sees how they look at his people's gold; he temporarily becomes their captive; and at the end, as an old man, he sadly notes: ``We lost our lands...we gave our souls to their gods...our sons and daughters became their sons and daughters, no longer true humans....'' Shannon's dark, richly colored paintings brilliantly capture the story's emotion and the sense of worlds colliding; Europeans are rendered with a rugged realism that strongly recalls the work of N.C. Wyeth, and the Native Americans look like polished wooden figurines-- with the border between these two realities shifting and changing. The author closes with a historical note, while the illustrator ends with an apology for adding loincloths to his figures. O tempora! O mores! (Picture book. 9-12)

Spanish Translation Books by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy :

Story Collection Green Books and CDs :

Alphabet Poetry and Nursery Rhyme Books and CDs :

Bilingual Collection Green Books and CDs :