El Juego De La Loteria

Playing Loteria /
El Juego de la Loteria
By René Colato Laínez
Illustrated by Jill Arena

• ISBN: 087358919X
  
• ISBN-13: 9780873589192
• Format: Paperback, 32pp
• Publisher: Luna Rising
• Pub. Date: January 2009
• Edition Description: Bilingual
• $6.95

Buy this book

This post is for Island Princess at ToDo Padre.

Some time ago, in a discussion on the SPI Forum, she was enthusiastically describing her plans to develop new activities to help entertain and welcome our Winter Texan friends. She was so excited as she talked about all the fun we would have playing Loteria, and having Loteria parties.

To my chagrin, I had to confess my lack of Spanish language skills as well as how little I know of the Mexican-American culture. I asked "What in the world, is Loteria?"

So when I saw the write-up for the new paperback version of Playing Loteria, along with several reviews of the title and downloadable lesson plans, activities, and instructions, I decided to share.


From La Bloga:

La Loteria, or Mexican bingo, is a wonderfully fun and colorful game that has been loved by people of all ages for over 200 years. In this charming story, a little boy visits his grandmother in Mexico. With the help of la loteria he learns new Spanish terms, and his Abuela learns various English words. Together they realize that loved ones truly do have special ways of understanding each other. The rules of the game are included so you can play and learn at home, too.

"An enjoyable and visually satisfying experience." – Críticas

"…very appealing and fun... a perfect present for kids." – Tradición Magazine

Awards:
2008 New Mexico Book Award, Best Children’s Book;
2007-2008 Tejas Book Award Finalist;
2007 California Readers “California Collection”;
2006 Latino Book Award, Best Cover Illustrations;
2005 Best Children’s Books, Críticas Magazine;
2005 Southwest Books of the Year.


You can also learn more about Playing Loteria, download lesson plans, and find other fun activities--like creating your own game cards and boards-- at renecolatolainez.com

Books On The Nightstand

In an earlier post I told you how much of my time has been spent reading about books instead of actually reading books. In my search for information about bookselling, books, and authors I have been reading blogs, any link to a blog that has some relevance to books usually gets a click of my mouse, and a quick perusal of the site. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time wandering around the web and sampling a little of what each of these writers has to say about the books they love, their experiences in bookselling or writing, reading challenges and serious literary criticism . There are hundreds of blogs which have something to do with the written word, which when you think about it, may cast some doubt on all the research concluding that people no longer read.

I recently stumbled onto a site I love, it is informative, entertaining, and since a major part of the content is delivered by podcast, it can be enjoyed on the go.


Books on the Nightstand is the collaborative effort of Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness. The emphasis of the blog is the weekly podcast which features a lively and informative discussion where Ann and Michael share their thoughts about some book related subject and tell their listeners what they have been reading and want to recommend.

Each 20 minute podcast has a basic three-part structure. To begin with the hosts discuss a topic of general interest to readers, or anyone involved with books. Ann and Michael then continue to explore the chosen topic by introducing a selection of titles that are somehow relevant to the subject.

Finally, in the third segment each host selects a favorite book, generally a new release, which they "can't wait for you to read". It is like walking into a bookstore and asking someone, what would you recommend, and getting an enthusiastic and knowledgeable response. But even if you don't plan to actually read the highlighted title, you will have enough information to impress your friends with how much you know about the latest book releases.

In the notes accompanying each podcast there is a list of the titles which are mentioned in the recording complete with all the information needed to order the book from a local bookstore or to easily locate the selection in your public library. If you want to know more about any of the books, each listed title is linked to LibraryThing where you can find additional information.

Ann and Michael make it clear that Books on the Nightstand, is a personal endeavor and not produced or sponsored by their employer. But their work experience with Random House shows in the expertise they bring to the project.

I think the logo is great, too!!

The newest episode has a discussion of novels that inspire movies. Listen here

Literary Landmarks - Novel Destinations

One of the advantages of being a bookseller that I have eagerly anticipated is getting advance reading copies (ARC) of books before they are released to the general public or published in final form. Distribution of ARC's to booksellers and reviewers is a popular way for publishers to promote a new title. My problem will be finding time to read these copies, not to mention having time to review them.

My first ARC is a special book and will have a place of honor and distinction in Paragraphs. It is unique not only because it was the first ARC I received but because the author, Shannon McKenna Schmidt, interviewed me in February about the opening of Paragraphs and her article appeared in Shelf Awareness and was posted here.

Additionally, Novel Destinations is co-authored by Joni Rendon and it is always a surprise to see my name, using the same spelling, but referring to some other person, not me.

When I came upon the notice in Shelf Awareness that this book was being released, I sent a note of congratulations to Shannon and thus received my first Advanced Reading Copy in my new career as a bookseller.



Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West

By Shannon Mckenna Schmidt, Jodi Rendon, Matthew Pearl

Contributor Matthew Pearl

Published by National Geographic Society, 2008

ISBN 1426202776, 9781426202773

368 pages

For a reader and one who loves to travel in unconventional ways to unexpected destinations just perusing the Table of Contents provides one with a diverse selection of tableaus from which to choose, all equally enticing. Given the opportunity of visiting the homes of many of one's favorite authors the imagination is attracted to the possible beauty of "Atmospheric Literary Landscapes" or the serenity of "Contemplative Places" and then when needing a fright to stir things up we are offered a possible visit with the "Vampires, Ghosts, and Ravens".

Schmidt and Rendon then ask us to join the Chronicler of the Jazz Age (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and the Rugged Adventurer (Ernest Hemingway) as well as other well-known authors at home and abroad. Continuing on our travels, the authors take us to literary festivals and must see libraries. Finally, at the end of Part I, and after an exhausting trip through time and place, what more could we ask than to join some of the literary greats in Booked Up: Literary Places to Drink, Dine and Doze.

Part II of the book is titled Journeys Between the Pages and guides us to ten locales that have been "immortalized by famed novelists". Jane Austen's English countryside is balanced by the London as seen by Dickens. The Paris, of Hugo, in the Hunchback of Notre Dame gives way to Joyce's Dublin, made famous in Ulysses. The good old USA is not neglected as we travel the northeast where the Little Women grew up and stop by to visit The House of Seven Gables and then the pages of Steinbeck's epic novels spring to life in the Salinas Valley of California.

From the book jacket:

"Novel Destinations"--a new offering that guides bibliophiles to more than 500 literary sites across the United States and Europe. From the moody, windswept moors that inspired the Brontes to the Old Courthouse immortalized by Harper Lee, the authors create a veritable life-list of must-see sites from literary history--and tell travelers how to visit on your own. The book begins with thematic chapters covering author houses and museums; literary festivals and walking tours; and hotels, bars, and restaurants. Then, in-depth explorations of author and place take readers roaming Franz Kafka's Prague, James Joyce's Dublin, Louisa May Alcott's New England, and other locales. Peppered with great reading suggestions and little-known tales of literary gossip, "Novel Destinations" will appeal as a unique travel guide, an attractive gift book, and the ultimate browser's delight.

Let me link you to your closest independent bookstore! Just enter your
ZIP code below before pressing the button. If you do not enter your ZIP, an
indie bookstore will be chosen for you at random, and any of these stores can mail this title to you.

Spotlight on Daniel Olivas

Daniel A. Olivas is the author of the story collections Devil Talk and Assumption, the novella The Courtship of Maria Rivera Pena, and the children's book Benjamin and the Word. He has a book of poetry forthcoming from Ghost Road Press in 2010, and another short-story collection to be published by Bilingual Press in 2009. A co-blogger on La Bloga (which is dedicated to Chicano/a and Latino/a literature), Olivas practices law with the California Department of Justice in Los Angeles where he makes his home with his wife and son.

His new book Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature, is published by Bilingual Press

While this anthology was compiled with the California experience in mind, Olivas states:

Finally, though it is difficult to pinpoint, the Latino experience in California, in general, and Los Angeles, in particular, is tied rather dramatically to the State's varied terrain (from beaches to mountains to deserts to asphalt), dependence on the car to get virtually anywhere, the freeway system, almost unrelenting sunshine, and the entertainment industry. I don't believe that the stories in the anthology could not be transplanted to, say, Denver or El Paso or Las Vegas.

Read the full interview by Rigoberto Gonzalez at Critical Mass, the blog of the national book critics circle.