Desplumado - Featherless, Del Sol Books

Author : Juan Felipe Herrera, Illustrator : Ernesto Cuevas Jr
1st Grade - 4th Grade

Desplumado - Featherless

Desplumado - Featherless, Hardcover, Bilingual, Book, Juan Felipe Herrera, Ernesto Cuevas Jr, 1st Grade - 4th Grade, 9780892391950, # 10116h, $16.95

One of Criticas Magazine's Best Books of 2004
2005 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Award

Teacher's Guide

Kids race across the grass,
swooping like kites over an emerald sea.
No one notices
how fast I can spin my wheels.
Will I ever catch up?
Will they ever see me?

At his new school or on the soccer field, all everyone wants to know is why Tomasito is in a wheelchair. His Papi gives Tomasito a new pet to make him smile, but this bird is a little bitşdifferent from the rest. Can Tomasito's featherless friend teach him that there's more than one way to fly? Can the cheers Tomasito hears on the sidelines ever be for him?

Award-winning author and poet Juan Felipe Herrera scores yet again with this sparkling story of friendship and self-empowerment. The brilliant acrylic paintings by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr., burst off the page with sheer joy.

Juan Felipe Herrera is a nationally renowned Mexican American poet, playwright, essayist, and teacher. His first children's book, Calling the Doves, won the prestigious Ezra Jack Keats Award for New Writers. Another book, The Upside Down Boy, has been adapted into a musical for young audiences and had its world premiere in New York in January of 2004. He currently teaches at California State University, Fresno.

Ernesto Cuevas, Jr. grew to love the arts through his experiences in the fields with his parents, who were migrant farmworkers. His vivid paintings represent a deep understanding and love for his Mexican American culture and history. A talented fine artist and founder of his own graphic design firm, Ernesto makes his debut as a children's book illustrator with Featherless/Desplumado. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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

Tomasito's dream of flying with Desplumado and his incorporation into a soccer team help youngsters understand that disabled children share their longings and hopes, as well as the ability to achieve and participate. Cuevas's paintings are full-spread and boldly colored, combining realism with cartoon-style simplicity; their broad washes and fuzzy edges reveal the texture of the paper on which they were created. Both Spanish and English texts are direct, inviting, and expressive." — Kirkus Reviews

"Desplumado is a unique and worthwhile book that turns a sensitive subject into an enjoyable story both in words and images. Highly recommended for all collections." — Criticas STARRED Review

"This bilingual children's book is a thoughtful story that may well aid in the opening of young minds. Skillfully translated, the text contains fun sound-effect words such as "Pop-pop-zaz" and "¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!" that add a feeling of presence and participation in the story. This book belongs in the collections of people who care about others and who wish to inform." — ForeWord Magazine

School Library Journal : Grade 1-3–Tomasito is having a hard time adjusting to his new school. Even though he wants to do what the other kids do, spina bifida keeps him wheelchair bound. To help him with his transition, his supportive and loving father gives him a new pet. Desplumadois a featherless bird that cannot fly. But, as Tomasito learns with the help of a new friend, there is more than one way to fly, and more than one way to play soccer. He is great at heading the ball, and as his participation and inclusion in the Fresno Flyers soccer team becomes a reality. Herrera's prose poem is a paean to those children who overcome adversity to create inclusion. Cuevas's oil illustrations, with forms surrounded by heavy black lines, work well in the soccer scenes but seem lumpy and inert in the indoor scenes, where the hues are darker and muddier. Still, this title could be used for a storytime focus on acceptance and tolerance and in ELL programs.

Booklist : K-Gr. 3. In this bilingual picture book, the text is better than the somewhat garish acrylic illustrations. Unable to walk because of his spina bifida, Tomasito feels unconnected in his new school. His father brings him a featherless parrot for company, but the boy wants nothing to do with a bird that looks so different. Eventually, Tomasito finds a place for himself on the soccer field, where he learns that one doesn't necessarily need feathers to fly. The message is heavy, but always the poet, Herrera transforms the language to depict both the boy's isolation and later his boundless joy. The Spanish offers slightly richer detail than the English: a "casita-trailer" is more descriptive, for example, than the simple trailer. An encouraging story, especially for Latino children with disabilities, who may recognize themselves and find their own ways to fly. Julie Kline

Bilingual Collection Red Books :