What Do Children Read?

Interesting article in the Washington Post about the reading habits of children. It may surprise you. There's also a PDF'd 56-page report on the study. Very interesting reading, indeed.

The article in the Post is here.

The Meaning of Amoxcalli

I’ve been getting a few questions on how to pronounce and spell my blog name AmoXcalli so I decided to give a little Aztec/Mexica culture lesson 101 from the indigenous point of view.

An Aztec book showing the folds

The Aztec people were called the Mexica before the Spanish Conquest. The name Azteca was given to them by the Spanish conquistadores. From what I’ve been told by my family and fellow Aztec dancers is that as the Spanish were coming over a mountain and they pointed and asked the indigenous people who the people were that lived over that mountain. The people said, the Azteca – meaning the feather workers who lived there, the Spanish took it to mean the people as a whole and the name stuck. We call ourselves the Mexica, which is pronounced Meh shee ka. The letter X in Nahuatl (the Mexica language at the time of the conquest and still in use by over a million people in Mexico today) is also soft, almost like a whisper. Ssh. So if you’re saying flower Xochitl – you say Sho sheetl – the l at the end kind of get thrown to the back of your throat.

Aztec pictographs for the days on the calendar

Nahuatl is an accentuated language, where the emphasis occurs on the adjacent syllable of the last syllable. Nahuatl is what is called a Uto-Aztecan language. The majority of speakers live in central Mexico, particularly in Puebla, Veracruz, Hildago, San Luis Potosi, Guerrero, Mexico (state), El Distrito Federal, Tlaxcala, Morelos and Oaxaca, and also in El Salvador. There are smaller numbers of Nahuatl speakers throughout the rest of Mexico, and in parts of the USA. There are numerous dialects of Nahuatl.

One of the few existing Aztec codices

Classical Nahuatl was the language of the Mexica people, also called the Aztec Empire and was used as a lingua franca in much of Mesoamerica from the 7th century AD until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. The modern dialects of Nahuatl spoken in the Valley of Mexico are closest to Classical Nahuatl.

An Amate tree

Nahuatl was originally written in pictograph script and was often carved on stone or painted into books made of Amatl paper. Amatl paper was made from the bark of the amate tree and is still made in the traditional way today in various parts of Mexico. The Spanish called these books Codices or Codex and they destroyed most during the Conquest. The books were considered sacred and were filled with histories, knowledge of herbal medicine, astronomy, ritual, surgery and so much more that is lost forever. The books were folded accordion style and were read back to front, right to left. Sometimes they were written on animal skin, but usually with the Amatl paper. A book was called Amox (ah mosh) and a house was called Calli. Together Amoxcalli means library or literally book house.

This gives you a good idea of the detail within a codex and a sense of what we've lost.

Whole libraries were burnt to the ground and almost every codex or book destroyed during the Conquest. The few that remain are stored in museums in other countries like other important historical things from that era. For example, Montezuma's quetzal feather headdress resides in a museum in Austria. Aztec dancers like myself and other Mexicans have been protesting for years to have it and the codices returned to Mexico.

This is the Aztec pictograph for Amoxcalli.

48 Hour Reading Challenge

A few days ago, I found out about the 48 Hour Book Challenge on Mother Reader's blog. I promptly signed up and even had somewhat of a plan in mind. Yesterday my boxes from BEA arrived and all thoughts of planning ended.

Currently I'm unpacking six boxes of books and reading both The Mysterious Benedict Society which I already love and The Guardians, Ana Castillo's new novel about immigration that I also already love.

I just pulled out Puff the Magic Dragon, Peter Yarrow's lavishly illustrated picture book that I stood in line to get a signature for and I know it's going to work its way into this challenge. Other books that are clamoring to be part of the reading feast this weekend are:
Piglet and Papa
Manga Shakespeare - Hamlet
Manga Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet
Lost City Radio
Micographica, Renee French's new book
Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Wilbur Smith's new book, The Quest
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan
Sparrow, a Novel
Gracie
The Ashleys
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (signed!)
Confessions of a Teenage Amnesiac
A Distant Soil
The Winter Rose
The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty
Only Revolutions
The Echo Maker
Wrestling with Angels
Tree of Smoke
Two Moon Princess
Erec Rex
The Christmas Jar;
The Kitchen Sink (poetry)
The Mice of Bistro des Sept Freres
Amelia Rules! What Makes You Happy
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (no I couldn't get Flight and missed his signing because the line was too long) heavy sigh.
Shiver
Kennedy's Brain
Fablehaven

Well that's it so far. No way am I going to be able to read all of those and the list may change depending on what else I find in my box digging (Mother Reader, does sorting books count in this reading challenge?). It'll be interesting to see which books I end up reading and how many of my list I'll get to. Signing off to go finish sorting books on the floor while reading The Guardian.

BEA Post Mortem

The scene at Javits before the show starts.

BEA – Book Expo America 2007

I went in with a plan. Really. I had maps, schedules, lists, My BEA Daily Planner and other tools. It all went for nothing the minute I walked into the Javits Center.

Phil Ortiz working on the BEA mural.

5/31/07 - Thursday. Conference: Panels all day long. I started out with good intentions and a planned schedule of panel attending, culminating in the Latino Book Awards. That was before I realized I had packed for a New York spring and it was hot, humid and my clothes just wouldn’t do. Nope. I walked from 43nd and 10^th to Times Square and kept walking till I hit Ann Taylor and Macy’s.

Phil Yeh likes Tin Tin!

I spent an enjoyable morning spending money on me for once. I usually spend it on things like grandkids, kids, bills, rent and food. I got back to my friend’s apartment just in time to quickly shower and change. Grabbed a cab and I was off to Javits, arriving just in time for the Latino Book Awards (see my La Bloga post for my full list of winners). The awards ceremony was a little long, the list of Latino books and categories was long which is great that we have so much out there. I met nice people, chatted with people from all over the country and was thrilled to see some of my favorite books get awarded.

6/1/07 - Friday. The exhibit floor opens!!! I did attend one panel and had several meetings as planned. Then I went wild. Books! Books! Books! I visited publishers booths that I really wanted to see. I kept running into things I hadn’t planned on seeing and just got completely caught up. I’d run into someone that I had only corresponded with on email and we’d get to chatting and there went my schedule right out the window. I don’t think I even made it to the press room except for once in the morning. I met Phil Yeh and Phil Ortiz who were doing a mural for BEA. Yeh is the author of Winged Tiger while Ortiz draws the Simpsons for the comic book series. Nice guys.

I got to the launch of LIP (Latinos in Publishing) reception just as it was ending. Darn! I did have a chance to meet an icon of Chicana literature, Ana Castillo who signed her new book The Guardians or me. The fact that I didn’t stutter in the face of that diosa famosa amazes me. Ms. Castillo was gracious, beautiful and the first page of her new book already has me hooked. I saw Julia Alvarez leaving but didn’t get a chance to talk to her. Darn!

From there I hopped over to the Transcontinental party with two of my new friends. We shared blue martinis and good conversation while watching some of the crowd hook up to a flavored oxygen bar. Wow. I felt like I was in a Star Wars movie or something. The blue martinis were yummy and stylishly blue. Tired and happy, I left to the apartment on 43^rd but headed right back out again to enjoy NYC at night. Goat cheese pizza and a cannoli with an espresso made the night perfect. Why did I ever move back home again? I adore Manhattan. Oh yeah, it was those bitter cold winters. Wimpy me can’t hang.

6/2/07 – Saturday. Morning coffee in the press room while going over the show daily and my notes. A few appointments. Hit the floor. I spent a lot of time bringing books down to attendee shipping to put in boxes. What a work out! Authors seen – Peter Yarrow who’s beautiful picture book Puff the Magic Dragon had lines of hopefuls stretched out for what seemed like forever. I scored one and chatted with the courtly gentleman for a sec. The book is gorgeous and I got one of the cool tote bags too! Can’t wait for my box to get here so I can read it and listen to the CD. I saw Wilbur Smith and also got his latest book, The Quest signed. Another lovely and nice man. I headed over to what I call comic book row where Diamond Distributors have their booths and Marvel is just around the corner. I met Joe Keatinge from Image Comics and Jimmy Gownley the cartoonist and author of the delightful Amelia Rules! winner of a 2006 Cybil award (I was on the nominating committee).

Joe has several books of special interest to me in my other incarnation as GM of Animation World Network (AWN.com) 

and he lists them below:

TALES OF COLOSSUS: Written and drawn by Mark Andrews, one of the major Pixar stars 

behind the upcoming Ratatouille. 

This is an epicmedieval tale where science and the occult combine to resurrect a  fallen soldier 

in the form of an iron colossus.

SCRAP METTLE: Another Pixar superstar, Scott Morse, has collected his sketchbooks and odd doodling 

into a 400 page hardcover edition,due out in July. It's a very interesting look into the process  

behind one of animation's finest creators.

The two of them also worked on two anthologies through Image, 

AFTERWORKS VOL. 1 & 2. Both volumes consist of animation's finest  doing what they love to do

 most after work - comics! The stories range from heartwarming all ages tales to WWII epic battles to  

silent heartbreak.

THE DRINK & DRAW SOCIAL CLUB. One of the front runners behind their art  book is 

DAVE JOHNSON, one of the main designers on the hit TV show BEN 10.

I stopped to chat with Chris Staros of Top Shelf comics who handed me a copy of Renee French’s new book Micrographica. Another book I can’t wait to get to. Where are my boxes UPS? I know, I know, not till the 8th. The wait is killing me.

I finally got to meet Jeremy Atkins from Dark Horse Comics. We exchange a lot of emails and go to a lot of the same conferences but have never met. Finally! Dark Horse does some amazing things including the much talked about Alice in Sunderland and those luscious Samurai: Heaven and Earth comics that I can’t get enough of.

Thalia signs at Chronicle Books

PGW party at the Blender at Gramercy Theatre that night with a friend. Good band, good music, good time.

I could go on and on with everyone I met and spoke to on Saturday and books I saw but I’ll save some of that for the next post.

6/3/07 – Sunday – I was EXHAUSTED!!! I got to Javits, headed to press room and had coffee. Feeling mildly human, I headed to the floor. Scored more books, met up with more people, went to shipping and just sat on the concrete floor sorting books and organzizing my boxes for about an hour. I got it all together and had it shipped, then planned on going upstairs to do more of the show till it ended. Somehow my feet ended up walking me right out of Javits and all the way to the apartment. I got there just in time. It started pouring down rain. My friend was back in town so we hung out, had Thai food and talked for hours. BEA was over, but not really. It’ll all be new when the boxes of books get here and I go through everything, my notes, the show dailys, the business cards, the emails. What a blast.

Next year, it’s in my turf – Los Angeles. YEEHAH! Maybe in 2008 I can stick to a schedule.

BEA Anyone?

Like many of my fellow book lovers, I will be at Book Expo America or BEA from May 31-June 3. It's my favorite conference ever. I'll be meeting up with fellow kidlitosphere bloggers, old friends and meeting new ones. There's panels aplenty and lots and lots of books.

My posting has been sparse because I'm in pre-BEA frenzy which means I've been setting up meetings using the My BEA tool, getting all my work done so I can leave my desk in a relatively neat state, making sure I have enough business cards, packing and the usual madness that begins the week before a trip.

I will be posting news on the conference every night on this blog so stay tuned. I'm bringing a camera so there will be photos of author signings, etc. I'm attending some very cool panels and the Latino Book Awards so look for news of that. I'm also attending the Children's Book and Author Breakfast and will be in the Saturday Book and Author Breakfast as well. It should be fun.


If you're attending and we haven't yet met, send me a note. I'd love to see you at BEA.

What Books Are You Reading?

I've been tagged by Liz B of the marvelous A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy for the What Books Are You Reading meme.

Let's see, I've been super busy - too busy to write much but I have been reading. On the bus to work (eco-friendly me), at lunch, before bed and sometimes in the morning. I'm currently reading:

The Savage Detectives by Robert Bolano - So far, I've done four chapters and it's fabulous. I can't wait to finish it. The book was recently translated to the English and is about a cult of young poets who call themselves Visceral Realists, steal books, disdain Octavio Paz and Neruda and live in Mexico City. I'm dying to finish it but keep getting sidetracked by the other fascinating books on my nightstand.

Manga Shakespeare - Hamlet - Yeah, that's right Manga Shakespeare. There's one on Romeo too. From what I can see these are great. I just got them and barely flipped through but already am semi in love. The language is intact but edited for space and length, the artwork is wonderful and I love the whole idea of it. Get these into the schools as required reading!

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell - Just finished this beautiful and tightly written account of the Lady of Shalott. It's one of the few Tennyson poems that I love and the story of Elaine is one sure to delight. That review will be up soon.

Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon - To be honest, I just cracked the spine of this one this morning. I'm drooling.

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - OMG! Glorious. Just finished this two nights ago and I'm still thinking about it. Look for that review soon.

A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve - Just started this one and it's my first in the Hungry City Chronicles but the third in the series. I already love it and want to go back and read the others. An alternative futuristic London, war, a mystery and what seems to be a love story between two wonderful characters. I HAVE to finish this one!

Escape from Special by Miss Lasko-Gross - another one who's review will soon be up on AmoxCalli. This is a completely wonderful and irreverant graphic novel with astounding depth to it's art work. Some people may be offended by some of the language but I thought it gave perfect flavor to it when read in context and it made me laugh. Come on people ya got to laugh when you read the word "cuntiness". Hey at least it's not scrotum. (Wow Gina, you got two smut words in that one)!

Tales From The Farm - yet another wonderful graphic novel that will shortly be on AmoxCalli. It's great. Spare yet effective text coupled with profoundly real and interesting black and white drawings. Fabulous.

So that's what I'm reading, read or trying to read. I'm tagging Pop Goes the Library, La Bloga, Blog From the Windowsill, Sarah's Holds Shelf and Original Content.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is this weekend, April 28-29, 2007. I look forward to this festival every year and usually go both days. It's a great place to meet up with old friends, meet authors, get your books signed, buy books, hang out and just have fun.

This year I'll be there all day Saturday and am really excited about it. Sunday I'll be there from opening till about 3pm and I'll have the grandkids along so I'm betting I'll be in the storytelling area a lot with the exception of swinging by to meet one of my literary idols Paco Taibo III and buy his new book on Pancho Villa.

If any of you authors, publishers, publicity people are interested in saying hello, shoot me an email and I'll make the time to swing by your booth, panels or maybe we can grab a coffee. Hope to see you all there!

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Author/Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: Penguin Philomel
ISBN-10: 9780399247491

The Incredible Book Eating Boy was a title that immediately caught my attention. I love books and I always want to read books about books. Imagine my delight when I found this gem by Oliver Jeffers. I was intrigued.

Henry is a boy who one day just took a bite of a book and liked it so much he started eating books. He found that the more he ate the smarter he got so he kept on eating them. Red ones are his favorite. Soon Henry is super smart but he’s also getting sick. Worse, his stomach and the knowledge he got from the books is getting all jumbled up and he’s making mistakes – big ones. What’s he going to do?

I loved it! The story was so funny. I just laughed and laughed and laughed all through it. I loved Henry and how he loved books. He loved them even more than I do. The illustrations were so clever and funny as well. I just couldn’t stop smiling through it. I loved the little bite taken out of the corner of the cover too. Very clever touch!

I loved it so much I couldn’t wait to share it with my grandchildren, Aiden and Jasmine. I had to have them over a day earlier than I usually do. I handed Jasmine, the four-year old the book solemnly and waited. I didn’t wait long. She looked at the cover and smiled. Then she turned it over and saw the bite and her eyebrows crinkled. “Grammy”, she said in her ooh you’re in trouble tone “who was bad and bit the book?”

Then I read it to them. Aiden kept laughing and pointing to different sections of the pages (he’s 18 months) and Jasmine laughed and laughed at the story and the drawings. At the end of the book she laughed and said, “Grammy, Henry was silly. Everyone knows you get smart by reading books, not eating them.” Smart girl. I asked if she liked it and she said, “I loved this book! May I take it home?” It lives at her house now and I’ll have to get another.

Bottom line? It’s quite wonderful.

Time Magazine Top Ten Lists

Time Magazine has listed there top ten comics and books here:

http://www.time.com/time/topten/2006/full_list.html

I was happy to see that some of my favorites like La Perdida, American Born Chinese, Fun Home, The What is What, Absurdistan and Absolute Sandman made the list.