Hispanic Hertiage Month--Some Legends of Puerto Rico

Hispanic Heritage Month is every September 15th to October 15th. Last year we really focused on Mexico for Hispanic Heritage Month. We also have done two Mexican Cinderella tales in our Fairy Tales in Different Culture series (as well as a Hispanic American version). This year we are going to expand out a bit. You will be seeing some Hispanic Heritage posts in our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures series (including this week) as well as our Flamingo Friday posts. Today I am going to share with you two wonderful picture books that tell two legends from Puerto Rico. Before I begin with the books, I need to send out a huge thank you to Daria over at Daria Music for sending these great books to me. If you have not checked out Daria's site, you should. She has amazing CD's as well as a great monthly page with several giveaways each month. This month she is giving away a basket full of castanets and a set of fair trade zamponas.

The first book is The Legend of the Hummingbird retold by Michael Rose Ramirez. This is a lovely tale of forbidden young love. A young Taino girl, Alida, meets a young Caribe man, Taroo. Tainos and Caribes were enemies of each other. The two became friends meeting at their favorite spot and talking for hours. Soon the friendship turned to love. One day they are spotted by a Taino and word gets back to Alida's fatehr. Her father forbids her to see Taroo and arranges for her to marry someone else. The stars help Alida by turning her into a red flower.

Source

Taroo did not know why Alida was not meeting him until the moon told him what had happened. The stars turned him into the first hummingbird. The people named him the next day since his wings made a humming sound. Now hummingbirds love flowers, but anyone who knows much about them knows red flowers are their favorite. The people of Puerto Rico believe each hummingbird is Taroo looking for his lost love, Alida. 

Source: DLTK Kids

At the end of the book there are several pages of information about Puerto Rico including the flag and a bit of the history of the Tainos. It also includes information about hummingbird legends and other legends where people are turned into animals.

Now this story was extra special to us since my father loves hummingbirds (as did his mother, my grandmother, Hazel). My father has several hummingbird feeders around his yard and one of our favorite things to do is watch the birds at the feeder near their picture window. We will be doing more hummingbird crafts at some point. This time we found this wonderful craft to make at Learn Create Love. It is a wonderful printable that all you have to do is print and color and glue together. Hazel helped with the gluing since she was tired of coloring.

Our next book is How the Sea Began: A Taino Myth retold by George Crespo. This is a wonderful tale about a young Taino hunter, Yayael.Throughout this book there are references to the Taino culture. It is a wonderful story to learn a bit more about the history of Puerto Rico and its people. The story tells how the spirit of the young hunter helps his village survive and then when some young boys get greedy and rushed how the help backfires to flood and produce the seas filled with sealife. The Taino people celebrated because they realized they would never be hungry again with all the fish in the sea to eat.

Taino Child in Forest--Source

So those are two wonderful books to learn a bit about the indigenous people of Puerto Rico and a little history and culture. Tomorrow (and next Monday) we will be sharing a fairy tale from Chile. Now for the exciting part. The MKB Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and prizes!

Welcome to the Second Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop, hosted this year by Multicultural Kid Blogs and 15 of our member blogs! Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 every year, "celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America" (from HispanicHeritageMonth.gov) Be sure to visit all of the participating blogs (listed below) and follow our related Pinterest boards:

• Teaching Spanish
• North America
• Central America & The Caribbean
• South America
• Day of the Dead

Enter to Win

This year to celebrate we are giving away fabulous prizes! You can enter two ways: 1) Link up a post in the linky at the bottom of this post (each post will count as an entry) 2) Make a comment on the main Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop post on the Multicultural Kid Blogs page answering the question, "How do you celebrate your heritage with your children?" Our Prizes Please note that there are shipping restrictions on some prizes. In the event that the winner lives outside of the shipping area, that portion of the prize will be added to the following prize package.

Grand Prize Package

 

Annual subscription (print and digital) to one of the following children's magazines (winner's choice!): Babybug, Ladybug, or Ask en espanol (available at the end of September) or Iguana ($51.90 value). International winners will receive a digital subscription.

 

Two Spanish activity books with games and exercises to review basic concepts, a card game that teaches wild animals in Spanish and English, two ceramic Day of the Dead skulls, and several small wooden toys.

A Child’s Life In The Andes is a 35 page e-book that brings the culture of this historic region alive through rich photographs, kid-friendly information as well as 3 children’s activities, 8 coloring pages, 2 language pages and a word search that features new vocabulary.

Cancioncitas De Los Andes/Little Songs Of The Andes from Daria is a digital CD sharing authentic music from the Andes performed on traditional instruments. The CD includes the most famous song from that region; El Condor Pasa, along with 5 other songs from this historic area of the world.

Sofía en una Aventura por la Selva from Kids Yoga Stories: Fly like a toucan, slither like a snake, and flutter like a butterfly as you act out this journey through a Costa Rican jungle. What else might you see? The storybook includes a List of Kids Yoga Poses and a Parent-Teacher Guide.

First Prize Package

Annual subscription (print and digital) to a children's magazine from Cricket. See details above.

Smart Play Pad (SRP $ 24.99): Interactive tablet like electronic toy makes early learning fun and exciting for little ones. More than 30 touch sensitive keys teach language and pronunciation skills to help prepare children for school. Bilingual feature helps kids learn in English & Spanish. Lightweight and truly portable for on-the-go learning. Ships to US and Canada only.

Travel through Mexico with this beautiful picture book from Barefoot Books. Along the way, learn Spanish words and phrases and discover Mexican culture. Ships to the US, Canada, or Europe only.

Discover the animals of the rainforest with The Parrot Tico Tango from Barefoot Books. The rhyming text and brilliant illustrations teach animals and colors. Ships to the US, Canada, or Europe only.

A Spanish-English picture dictionary, a simple workbook in Spanish geared towards 1st graders in Mexico, the classic "lotería" game, plus a couple of small wooden toys, courtesy of Kid World Citizen.

Second Prize Package

Annual subscription (print and digital) to a children's magazine from Cricket. See details above.

Más Canciones en Español from Music with Sara: A wonderful collection of traditional songs from Latin America. Perfect for children learning Spanish.

Reading kit for one children's biography highlighting Latina librarian, Pura Belpré, courtesy of Latinas for Latino Lit. Includes a copy of The Storyteller's Candle by Lucía González, a 16-page HHM Reading Kit full of book-based activities to promote literacy, with a folder, a pencil and set of colored pencils. Retail value: $15.95 Ships to the US only.

 

Unidad Lupita, by Jaime Alfonso Sandoval, Illustration by Natalia Gurovich, from LA librería. Ships to the US only.

 

¡Qué animales! by Eduardo Bustos, Illustrations Lucho Rodriguez, from LA librería. Ships to the US only.

Participating Blogs

Multicultural Kid Blogs

All Done Monkey

Spanish Playground

Kid World Citizen

Mommy Maestra

World Music with Daria

Kids Yoga Stories

Inspired by Familia

SpanglishBaby

Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes

For the Love of Spanish

De Su Mama
Spanglish House

The Paris Busy Bee Blog

Crafty Moms Share

Toddling in the Fast Lane

The Good Long Road

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