Synopses & Reviews
Practice your numbers in English and Spanish when you count the beautiful dancers, playful musicians, and happy children of Oaxaca as the Guelaguetza parade goes by! Pronounced Gal-a-get-zah, the lively celebrationfull of traditional dancing and musictakes place every July deep in the heart of southern Mexico. ONE band leader with a big white balloon! DOS hombres with firecrackers! THREE musicians! FOUR giants! All exquisitely handcrafted by the Mexican folk art masters Guillermina, Josefina, Irene, and Concepción Aguilar, in collaboration with author and scholar Cynthia Weill. Bienvenidos! Welcome to the parade!
Cynthia Weill is a professor and mentor to teachers at Columbia University's Teachers College. She also owns a non-profitAid to Women Artisansthat promotes the craftwork of artisans from developing countries. Count Me In is her fourth book in the First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art Series.
The Aguilar Sisters are Mexico's most beloved artisans. They learned how to make clay figurines from their mother Doña Isaura. These lively independent women are considered great masters of Mexican folk art and have been visited by Queen Elizabeth, Queen Sofia of Spain, various Mexican presidents, and Nelson Rockefeller. Their humorous ceramics of the people of their town and state are in museum collections the world over.
Review
"Playful ceramics enact a traditional Mexican festival parade, from
uno to
diez.
íAquí viene el desfile! / íCuenta conmigo!” With this buoyant invitation, readers are ushered into the traditional Oaxacan festival of Guelaguetza
theres no denying the effervescence of the event. The Aguilar sisters work appears in museums all over the world, and this book marks their first collaboration. This peek into Mexicos art and traditions is certainly one of the most joyous [children will] encounter."
Kirkus Reviews"Weill returns with another joyous celebration of Mexican folk art, piggybacked here on a counting book theme." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book
"[A] fine bilingual counting book
beautiful, creative, and sometimes whimsical. School Library Journal
"[A] fine pick for those trying to teach multilingual learners counting and language." Midwest Book Review
Synopsis
Oaxacan dancers and musicians celebrate with a colorful parade. Count yourself in the fun!