Welcome to the family! It's just like yours: father, mother, sister, brother, abuelita, gato, even a great-great grandmother. Well, but there's something just a little bit different about this particular family. Maybe it's those clothes they wear . . . just a little bit fashion backward. And the colors! So vibrant and . . . lively. Maybe that's what it is. They are just so full of life while looking almost other worldly.
¡Bienvenidos a la familia! Es justo como la tuya: papá, mamá, hermana, hermano, abuelita, gato, hasta un a vis-abuela. Pero hay algo un poco diferente sobre esta familia. Tal vez es la su ropa...es un poco anticuada. Y los colores! Tan vibrantes y...vivos. Tal vez eso es, solo están llenos de vida, al mismo tiempo pareciendo de otro mundo.
Cynthia Weill's bilingual collaboration with artist Jesus Canseco Zarate teaches young readers basic information about relationships, while also celebrating the colorful tradition of Mexico's Day of the Dead. Canseco Zarate long-limbed sculptures are a playful twist on traditional Mexican iconography of the skeleton that stretches back through the country's art history to José Guadalupe Posada's engravings and Aztec sculpture.
La colaboración bilingüe entre autora Cynthia Weill y artista Jesus Cnaseco Zarate le enseña a lectores jóvenes información básica sobre familias, al mismo tiempo celebrando la tradición colorida del Día de Muertos. Las esculturas de brazos largos de Canseco Zarate le dan un toque juguetón a la iconografía Mexicana tradicional del esqueleto, que se ve a lo largo de la historia artística del país, hasta los grabados de José Guadalupe Posada, y las esculturas Aztecas.
Cynthia Weill holds a master's degree from Wesleyan University in Art History and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College Columbia. While working on her dissertation at Columbia, Cynthia collaborated with artisans in Oaxaca, Mexico to create the folk art pieces that became the successful First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art series. She is currently the director of the Center for Children's Literature at the Bank Street College of Education.
Cythia Weill tiene una maestría de Historia del Arte de Wesleyan University, y un doctorado de Educación del Colegio de Maestros de Columbia University. Durante su tiempo trabajando en su tesis en Columbia, Cynthia colaboró con artesanos y artesanas de Oaxaca, México, para crear las piezas que se fueron después presentadas en la exitosa serie, Primeros Conceptos en Artesanía Mexicana. Actualmente es la directora del Centro para Literatura Infantil en el Colegio de Educación Bank Street..
Jesus Canseco Zarate is a young Oaxacan folk artist whose medium of choice is paper mâché. In 2008 he won first prize in the Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art completion for young artists.
Jesús Canseco Zárate es un artesano de Oaxaca conocido por sus complejas calacas de papel maché. En el 2008, ganó el primer premio en la competición de Amigos de Artesanía de Oaxaca para artistas jóvenes.
About the Author: Cynthia Weill holds a doctorate in education from Teachers College Columbia University. She is on the board of a foundation -- Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art -- that seeks to promote and preserve the artists and artisanal work of the state. Familia is her fifth book that features the folk art of Oaxaca. Jesus Canseco Zárate is a young Oaxacan folk artist whose medium of choice is paper mâché. He is known for his elaborate calacas (skeleton statues). In 2008, he won first prize in the Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art completion for young artists.
