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Texas Children's Books
by Soll Sussman
UVALDE, Texas - After deciding to organize a Texas children's
story hour at El Progreso Memorial Library, outreach coordinator
Nancy Feely ran into an unexpected problem when she tried to
put together a lively display.
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Our Texas children's
books were all checked out,' she said, happy to find out just
how popular they are. 'I think everyone is always fascinated
by Texas and Texas themes - whether you're from Texas or not.'
These days, due to a steadily expanding array of new and vintage
titles, parents and teachers in Texas and elsewhere can keep
children and young people supplied with Texas-themed children's
books from infancy well into their Clearasil years.
National publishing houses, university presses, and regional
presses are all contributing to the market. Helped along by
computer technology, some authors hoping for sales and acclaim
start on their own and publish their own books.
'There are more Texas books; Texas is a big market,' Susanna
Nawrocki, manager of the Red Balloon children's book store in
San Antonio, said. 'We have books about every nationality, about
every ethnic group - and they're beautiful.'
Anne Bustard, author of a new picture biography of the Lubbock-born
rock'n roller Buddy Holly, was a partner in a children's book
store in Austin more than a decade ago. She also confirmed the
expansion in the market for Texas books. 'We had a section of
books that featured Texas, and it was very small,' she said.
'Now there are many more.'
Many Texas-themed children's books are available for sale at
the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. The museum's
gift shop features seven shelves of them, spreading out over
two display areas. A simple softcover, 'I Know an Old Texan
Who Swallowed a Fly,' (by Donna Cooner, illustrated by Ann Hollis
Rife) is a good seller there, according to Shawn Goodnight,
retail director for the State Preservation Board.
The book - a Texas variation of the standard children's song
- takes a young reader through a progressive chant, from a fly
to a toad, snake, bird, raccoon, steadily adding to the refrain,
'I don't know why he swallowed a fly.'
Mrs. Goodnight said most of the books on sale at the museum
gift shop come from regional publishers.
Any book selected for the gift shop 'has to convey Texas history
in an interesting way,' she said. 'They need to support the
mission of the museum; we tell the Story of Texas.' Animals
are popular, especially for younger readers, especially 'lots
of armadillos.'
Susan Austin, an educator at Robb Elementary School close to
El Progreso library, was one of the readers at the Uvalde story
hour, picking 'Saving Sweetness' (by Diane Stanley, illustrated
by G. Brian Karas) about an orphan's Western journey. She said
Texas books have special resonance for children. 'That's a big
part of learning, to make it relevant to their every day life,'
she said.
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In Uvalde, a South Texas
community between Del Rio and San Antonio that prides itself
on being the crossroads of the two longest highways in the United
States (Highways 83 and 90, running from the Mexican border
to Canada and between the east and west coasts), story hour
is a regular attraction whether the tales are from Texas or
not.
The dozen or so children at the story hour in El Progreso's
new building sat mostly rapt in a semi-circle as they listened
to the Texas stories. But youngsters don't have to be in Texas
to learn about their heritage. Carey Fitzmaurice and her husband,
displaced Texans living in Washington, D.C., are determined
that their children grow up knowing they are Texans despite
their East Coast surroundings.
'Bubba, the Cowboy Prince' and 'The Armadillo from Amarillo'
are among the favorites at their house. Fitzmaurice said five-year-old
Elijah and two-year-old Sam 'could recognize the shape of Texas
as well as the Texas flag from early on.'
'Bubba' (by Dallas author Helen Ketteman, illustrated by James
Warhola) is a fractured Texas takeoff of the Cinderella story.
Bubba lives on a ranch with his wicked stepdaddy and lazy stepbrothers
Dwayne and Milton until, helped along by his fairy godcow, he
rightfully steps into his boot and rides off into the sunset
with wealthy Miz Lurleen.
'The Armadillo from Amarillo' is writer and illustrator Lynne
Cherry's only Texas book. he Maryland-based Cherry specializes
in books that teach children about their environment, and, in
this case, the title came first.
'The title just came to me - it's such a great rhyme - and
then I wrote the book after coming up with the rhyme,' she said.
Cherry extensively traveled around Texas to research her book
about the armadillo that wonders 'Where in the World Am I?'
and manages to find out by hitching an aerial ride on the back
of a golden eagle.
At Texas State University in San Marcos, the College of Education
has presented the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's
Book Award for the past decade. 'We've seen a steady increase
in the number of books being published, and the number of Latino
authors,' Ana Juarez, a faculty member, said.
The first year only a handful of books were submitted for the
award, while more recently 40 or 50 titles come in each year.
There is even talk of splitting the award, giving one for picture
books and one for books for young adults up to age 16.
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| In El Paso, Lee and Bobby Byrd started Cinco
Puntos Press at their home in the city's Five Points neighborhood
20 years ago without intending to specialize in bilingual children's
books.
For their first effort, they found an author, Joe Hayes, who
proposed a book of the legend about 'La Llorona/The Weeping
Woman.' More than 90,000 copies later, when they toss off their
standard line about being the house that La Llorona built, they
mean it.
'Having an author like Joe pushed us into the children's arena,'
Lee said. 'We just began to acquire more and more kids' books
and our bread and butter became children's bilingual books.'
They started publishing books for young adults as well after
hearing from teachers and librarians that there weren't enough
books reflecting the reality of the Southwest.
One of their newest titles, 'Lucha
Libre' is aimed squarely at fourth-grade boys with vivid
illustrations of the Mexican masked wrestlers that San Antonio
writer and artist Xavier Garza learned about when growing up
in the Rio Grande Valley. They also publish a songbook in Spanish
and English, Austin entertainer - Tish
Hinojosa's 'Cada Niño, Every Child.'
The San Francisco-based Children's Book Press also picked a
bilingual winner with Carmen Lomas Garza's memories of her Kingsville
childhood. 'Family Pictures' has sold more than 400,000 copies
nationally. 'If you know your history, you know where you stand,'
the author and illustrator
said.
Texas Tech University Press in Lubbock has been successful with
the series of 'Lone Star Journals' by Lisa Waller Rogers that
take fourth to seventh-grade readers on adventures on the Chisolm
Trail, to the Alamo, and the Galveston hurricane of 1900. To
encourage young readers to write their own stories, the press
publishes a matching blank diary, 'My Lone Star Journal.' Noel
Parsons, the press' director, said Texas Tech mostly publishes
books about Texas history. He and his staff are excited about
a new book, Tim Tingle's 'Spooky Texas Tales,' that adapts Texas
ghost stories for young people.
Some of the increased interest and activity in Texas children's
books can be attributed to the activities of the Society of
Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, which now has five
regional chapters in the state. Julie Lake, an Austin writer
who currently leads the Central Texas chapter, said the mentoring
and networking the association provides is invaluable.
'This niche in the market has really grown,' she said. 'We're
just a really big state, so that helps create a market. We've
got a large built-in readership.'
While working as a writer for a Texas insurance trade association,
Lake became interested in the 1900 Galveston hurricane disaster
and wrote a historical novel for young readers, 'Galveston's
Summer of the Storm.' 'I was just intrigued by that whole event,'
she said. 'I hadn't really thought about trying to write a children's
book.'
Her book was published by TCU Press in 2005. She finds the field
of children's writing very competitive because of the modern
distractions competing for kids' attention, from television
to DVDs and videogames.
Bustard's first book was an alphabet primer called 'T is for
Texas,' from armadillos to zillions of bluebonnets. A steady
seller, it's one of several Texas alphabet books readily available.
More recently, she approached 12 or 13 publishers before landing
a home for 'Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly,' her new picture
biography (illustrated by Kurt Cyrus), at national publisher
Simon & Schuster. She described it a Texas book 'with universal
appeal' that is suitable for children from four to nine and
older.
As with 'Buddy,' the number of compelling true-life stories
in Texas has helped add to the number of Texas children's books
available. Lady Bird Johnson inspired writer Kathi Appelt and
illustrator Joy Fisher Hein to create 'Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers'
about how the First Lady changed America through her love for
flowers. 'Wildflowers are the stuff of my heart,' the young
Lady Bird says in the story.
'It was Kathi's idea,' Hein said. 'Because of my love of nature
and flowers, she thought that I would be the perfect person
to illustrate it. I've studied at the (Lady Bird Johnson) Wildflower
Center.' She's proud that Lynda Robb, one of the Johnson daughters,
has purchased some of the paintings from the book.
As El Progreso's story hour moved on, not everyone was paying
attention to the Texas tales. Staff at the library's new building
encourage activities and doesn't fret about noise. As parents
and children started heading to the checkout desk with books
to take home, Feely said she planned to start looking for more
Texas children's books to add to the library's collection and
keep more of them in stock.
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AUTHOR
Border
Crossings is a series of features prepared by Soll Sussman
who reported on Mexico and Central America as a correspondent
and regional news editor for The
Associated Press. He left for a stint as A.P. bureau chief
in Toronto. Because his heart never really left Mexico City,
he quickly came to his senses and moved closer to the Mexican
border. He now is a freelance writer happily living in Austin,
Texas.
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