Coyote School News [Hardcover]

Joan Sandin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

A blending of rich Mexican and American cultural traditions

"My name is Ramón Ernesto Ramírez, but everybody calls me Monchi. I live on a ranch that my great-grandfather built a long time ago when this land was still part of Mexico. That was before the United States bought it in 1854 and moved the line."

Every day, Monchi and his five brothers and sisters take a long, bumpy bus ride to Coyote School, where there are twelve students who each write for Coyote School News. Through their articles and drawings we learn all about their exciting 1938 school year-from the Christmas piñata, the new baseball team, and the Perfect Attendance Competition to La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, the biggest annual ranch celebration.

This eventful story, illustrated in full color, is based on an actual collection of newspapers written by students of Arizona ranch-country schools between 1932 and 1943.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-An entertaining bit of historical fiction set in 1938-1939. His country may be preparing for war, but fourth-grader Monchi Ram'rez wishes that President Roosevelt would turn his attention to fixing the bumpy roads leading from his family's southern Arizona ranch to the area's one-room schoolhouse. His schoolmates are white and brown, rich and poor, but united in their affection for their teacher, Miss Byers. Monchi narrates a year's worth of episodes at school and at home, telling of a vaquero roundup, a broken wrist, Nochebuena feasting, and the elusive Perfect Attendance award. Interspersed are full-page issues of the Coyote News, the student-produced newspaper. The text is long enough to be a beginning chapter book; however, Sandin's sensitive watercolor illustrations and the "mimeographed" newspaper pages necessitate the larger, picture-book format. The text is peppered with Spanish words and phrases, and a glossary with pronunciation guide is appended. Without didacticism, this book shows readers that Mexican traditions have been part of the American cultural landscape for generations, yet the book's appeal is broad and not limited to social studies units.
Eve Ortega, Cypress Library, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. Set in southern Arizona during 1938 and 1939, this episodic story offers a vivid portrayal of school and community life as observed by fourth-grader Monchi Ramirez. Monchi lives on the ranch his great-grandfather built in Mexico, on land that later became part of the U.S. Mexican culture is still strong in the area and Spanish words dot the narrative. Often their meaning can be gleaned from context, but an appended Spanish word list provides translations and pronunciations. The school year and student newspaper provide the book's structure; newsworthy events include Halloween and Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) celebrations, the Rodeo Parade in Tucson, and Monchi's first roundup. This brightly illustrated picture book will work well for middle-grade readers who don't demand chapter books; it can also be read aloud to somewhat younger children. Drawn with a keen sense of what will interest children, the pencil, pen, and watercolor artwork is richly colored and detailed. Monchi's narrative provides a pervasive sense of period and culture within an appealing story that will be a fine choice for reading aloud in the classroom. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080506558X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805065589
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars coyote school news, October 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Coyote School News (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book about kids who go to a one-room school in southern Arizona in 1938. There are twelve of them, most from Mexican-American families; a nice young teacher, Miss Byers; and her dog Chipito, who lives at the school with her. The school bus is a beat-up old car that bumps over dirt roads from one ranch to another picking up children and sometimes breaking down - and once running over a rattlesnake, whose 5'7" skin hangs on the schoolroom wall next to President Roosevelt's picture.
Monchi, a fourth grader, tells about the big events of the year, like Miss Byers' swell idea to start a newspaper, and the Halloween party and roundup on the ranch. And everyone writes stories or draws pictures for the "Coyote News" paper, which is printed in the book, so we can read about the nurse's visit and Christmas wishes and Miss Byers' radio and Loli's lost tooth and the school's float at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson.
Joan Sandin weaves these events into an absorbing story that easily incorporates some Spanish words (a glossary is provided.) Her bright, detailed pictures tell even more about ranch and school life and about the twelve children of Coyote School. To look at their group picture on the last day of school and then back at their first-day picture is to see how well we have come to know each one, and how pleased we are at how they've grown.
This lively story should fascinate kids, who will discover that in spite of the unique setting and the long-ago time, Coyote School children aren't all that different from themselves. The range of the children's ages makes it a great book for family read-alouds. And it's just the kind of book a good teacher looks
for: it's full of information, but first of all,it's a good story.