Napi funda un pueblo/Napi Makes a Village [Hardcover]

Antonio Ramirez (Author), Domi (Illustrator), Elisa Amado (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2010 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

In this third book about Napí, the government is building a dam, forcing the Mazateca people to make a new village for themselves on inhospitable land. Napí recounts what she remembers of this time — traveling upriver to the place where they will resettle, the frighteningly beautiful jaguar she sees by the spring, the fierce fires that clear the land for farming, how her father has to walk all day to a far-off town so that he can buy food for the family. But what stands out in her mind very strongly is the misfortune that occurs when her father is kicked by a horse, which she first envisions in a vivid dream. It is Napí who hastens back to the village to fetch her mother and uncles, her rapidity ensuring her father’s survival.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1- 3 ;Ramírez returns to the world of the young Mazateca girl introduced in Napí (2004) and Napí va a la montaña (2006, both Groundwood). In this installment based on a true story, Napí tells how she and her family are forced from their village because the government decides to build a dam. As the people are uprooted, they take to the water to try to find a new place to settle, and this proves to be an eye-opening experience for the girl. She encounters exotic jaguars as spring sets in, witnesses villagers setting fires to clear the land, and then grows up fast as her dad almost perishes in a fire as he goes to collect the harvest. Domi's large mural-like, earthy watercolor paintings are closely intertwined with the words and reflect the Spanish-English bilingual text and fine details. The clear text, authentic artwork, and realistic story line make for a fine addition to Spanish-language collections. ;Rhonda Jeffers, Children's Services Librarian, Coweta Public Library System, Newnan, GA (c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books; Bilingual edition (March 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888999658
• ISBN-13: 978-0888999658
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,286,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, March 1, 2010

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Napi funda un pueblo/Napi Makes a Village (Hardcover)

A young girl named Napí has vivid recollections of when her community, members of an indigenous Mexican group known as the Mazatec, had to relocate from their village to an undeveloped and inhospitable area far away. The government planned to build a dam that would flood their entire village and those around it, so it needed to convince the villagers to leave.

When Napí's father realized that the new land the government had given them was of inferior quality, he almost left Mexico to find work in the United States. However, Grandfather convinced him of the importance of resisting, staying alive, and remaining together. Napí remembered her grandfather's lesson when she herself wanted to act out in anger and fear after her father suffered a serious injury while harvesting the rice.

Based on real events in the life of illustrator Domi, who is herself Mazateca, this unique story communicates to young readers the hardships that indigenous groups have experienced around the world when powerful governments have forced them to move. Told from a child's point of view in both Spanish and English and illustrated with bold watercolor paintings, this new book will both inform and interest a wide readership.