“From the Belly Button of the Moon; and other summer poems” By: Francisco X. Alarcon

“From the Belly Button of the Moon; and other summer poems”

By: Francisco X. Alarcon

Illustrations: Maya Christina Gonzalez

Children book press; San Francisco, California

Copy Right 1998

(poetry – theme collection by a single poet)

            There were many things that attracted me to this book.  First, it has very beautiful illustrations. Each page is filled with so much color and detail it really enhances the poems.   Another thing that drew me to this book was that each poem was written in both English and Spanish.  While the premise of the book was on Mexican heritage, each poem gave a little information about that.   Some of the poems included such topics as nature, being bilingual (the dog), the farm and what “Mexico” means; from the belly button of the moon”.  This book would be great to share with a class.  I think it would be very interesting especially if there were bilingual children in the class or from that heritage.   I can’t make a text to text connection with this book.  I have never read another book that was written in two languages.  As for the text to self connection I feel it in the importance of family that if felt in this book.  We all have a culture or heritage that is reflective in our family life. This book was another example of another culture we could take information away from.