Alma Flor Ada

How the Rainbow Came to Be
Cómo nació el arco iris

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The author mag­i­cally com­bines sci­en­tific facts with a fable about coop­er­a­tion in this enchant­ing tale.
In the begin­ning, Earth has no color until Red, Blue, and Yel­low decide that a gray planet is unsightly. Even­tu­ally they each real­ize the impor­tance of mix­ing their sep­a­rate hues in order to cre­ate a col­or­ful planet. Excel­lent for dis­cussing coop­er­a­tion, sol­i­dar­ity, and the value of diver­sity, this book is also a great spring­board for explor­ing pri­mary and sec­ondary colors.

One of the beloved titles of the series Sto­ries the Year ‘Round, or in Span­ish, Cuen­tos para todo el año. The com­plete sto­ries of the series are:

SPRING
A Rose with Wings
A Sur­prise for Mother Rab­bit
The Empty Piñata

PRIMAVERA
Rosa alada
La sor­presa de Mamá Coneja
La piñata vacía

SUMMER
How the Rain­bow Came to Be
After the Storm
In the Cow’s Backyard

VERANO
Cómo nació el arco iris
Después de la tor­menta
La hamaca de la vaca

FALL
The Kite
What Are Ghosts Afraid Of?
“Turkey for Thanks­giv­ing?” “No, Thanks!”

OTOÑO
El papalote
El susto de los fan­tas­mas
–¿Pavo para la Cena de Gra­cias? –No, gracias.

WINTER
The Golden Cage
I Don’t Want to Melt
It Wasn’t Me

INVIERNO
La jaula dorada
¡No quiero der­re­tirme!
No fui yo

CDS AND CASSETTES DESCRIPTION

There is a spe­cial value to lis­ten­ing to a books read by the author. Such record­ings show just where the author wishes to con­vey feel­ings and emo­tions, empha­sis and sus­pense. When the text is put to music it acquires addi­tional inter­est for children.

I par­tic­u­larly like to read aloud and to record my read­ings so, for me, it was par­tic­u­larly joy­ful to record these twelve sto­ries in Eng­lish and Spanish.

The sto­ries can be found in indi­vid­ual cas­settes in Eng­lish and Span­ish, one for each book of the series, or in CDs in Eng­lish and Span­ish ver­sions. Each of the CDs con­tains the twelve sto­ries of the series.

A Spe­cial Bonus

Because these sto­ries have been so beloved by chil­dren, I con­ceived the idea of given them an extra dimen­sion. I have rewrit­ten the 12 sto­ries in Span­ish in verse for­mat. And Suni Paz, with her incom­pa­ra­ble cre­ativ­ity, has put them to music. So the Span­ish cas­settes and CD con­tain not only the story as pub­lished in the book told by me, but also the story retold in verse form and sung by Suni.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The twelve books of this series are some of my best well known books among bilin­gual teach­ers and their stu­dents. They are also very dear to my heart since I have had such extra­or­di­nary responses to them.

Once, while vis­it­ing a school in the Bronx, I was telling the stu­dents the sto­ries behind my sto­ries. One stu­dent asked me how this book had come about. I answered that I hon­estly did not think there was a story behind the cre­ation of this book, that I really did not know what had inspired it.

Then another child raised his hand and gave me, in all inno­cence, the great­est acco­lade. He said with con­vic­tion: “But, I do know where this story came from.” And when I asked him to explain, he said: “Those three col­ors are you, your friend Suni Paz, and Viví Escrivá. The three of you are mak­ing the world more beau­ti­ful for chil­dren, with your sto­ries, your songs and your illus­tra­tions.” It was a moment I will never forget!

Reviews

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 4– Appear­ing at a time when the whole world was just black, white, and dif­fer­ent shades of gray, three colors–red, blue, and yellow–decide to make a con­tri­bu­tion to the planet. The blue begins first and paints the rivers, the sky, and some birds. Red fol­lows by paint­ing straw­ber­ries and apples and another kind of bird. Yel­low, believ­ing the other two col­ors are lost with­out him, gives color to the sun and the sun­flow­ers. Then they com­bine to cre­ate more col­ors. The story is sim­ply told and illus­trated with bril­liant water­col­ors. The text is short and printed in bold type.

READERS’ RESPONSES

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