Elena's Serenade

by Campbell Geeslin, Ana Juan (Illustrator)

Overview

Who ever heard of a girl glassblower?
In Mexico, where the sun is called el sol and the moon is called la luna, a little girl called Elena wants to blow into a long pipe...and make bottles appear, like magic.
But girls can't be glassblowers. Or can they?
Join Elena on her fantastic journey to Monterrey — home of the great glassblowers! — in an enchanting story filled with magic realism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689849084
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Ana Juan is the illustrator of Elena’s Serenade by Campbell Geeslin, which School Library Journal called “a fascinating adventure that explores issues of gender roles, self-confidence, and the workings of an artist’s heart” in a starred review. Her paintings have appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, on book and album jackets, on film festival posters, and in several European magazines. She is also the illustrator of Frida by Jonah Winter and the author and illustrator of The Night Eater. She lives in Madrid, Spain.

Editorial Reviews

Here, Juan surpasses even her magical, atmospheric art for Jonah Winter's Frida (2002). Indignant at her father's announcement that girls can't be glassblowers, Elena disguises herself as a boy and sets off to prove her worth in Monterrey, Mexico's glass capital. Elena relates her tale with spirit (and a sprinkling of Spanish): after traveling across the desert beneath el sol and la luna grande, learning to play folk music on an old blower's pipe, teaching a coyote to sing "Cielito Lindo," and other marvels, she silences skeptics in a Monterrey glass-blowing factory by blowing stars, then creates a crystal swallow to carry her back to papa. A stubby figure beneath a huge floppy hat and a flyaway brown mane, the young narrator gazes up at viewers with radiant self-confidence, as around and behind her gather scenes and symbols from Mexican and folk art. A vibrant cultural evocation, as well as a gender-role challenger along the lines of Mayra L. Dole's Drum, Chavi, Drum! (2003). (Picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews