Featherless / Desplumado

by Juan Felipe Herrera, Ernesto Cuevas, Jr. (Illustrator)

Overview

Bilingual English/Spanish. Award-winning children's book author and poet Juan Felipe Herrera offers a story of self-empowerment and friendship.

Kids race across the grass,
swooping like kites over an emerald sea.
No one notices
how fast I can spin my wheels.
Will I ever catch up?
Will they ever see me?

At his new school or on the soccer field, all everyone wants to know is why Tomasito is in a wheelchair. His Papi gives Tomasisto a new pet to make him smile, but this bird is a little bit different from the rest. Before long, this boy-bird team discovers that there's more than one way to fly-on or off the soccer field-and that those cheers Tomasito hears from the sidelines just might be for him. Goooooooooooal!

Award-winning children's book author and poet Juan Felipe Herrera scores yet again with this sparkling story of self-empowerment and friendship. The brilliant acrylic paintings by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr., soar off the page with joy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643796734
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	04/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years
Language:	Spanish

About the Author

Juan Felipe Herrera is the son of farmworkers and a graduate of UCLA, Stanford, and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. For over fifty years, he has dedicated his life to poetry, community, art, and teaching. He served as the Poet Laureate of the United States and of California, and he's written more than thirty books across various genres. His awards include the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the LA Times Robert Kirsch Award, a Latino Hall of Fame Award, a Pushcart Prize, UCLA Chancellor's Medal, and the UC-Riverside Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2024. He lives in Fresno, California, with his wife, poet Margarita Robles.

Ernesto Cuevas holds a bachelor's degree in fine art from Dartmouth College. He grew to love the arts through his experiences in the fields with his parents, who were migrant farmworkers. Ernesto is also the founder of RedCielo LLC, a graphic design firm based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

* "[A] unique and worthwhile book that turns a sensitive subject into an enjoyable story both in words and images. Highly recommended for all collections." — Críticas, starred review

"Herrera's prose is a paean to those children who overcome adversity to create inclusion." — School Library Journal

"Tomasito's dream of flying with Desplumado and his incorporation into a soccer team help youngsters understand that disabled children share their longings and hopes, as well as the ability to achieve and participate. Cuevas's paintings are full-spread and boldly colored, combining realism with cartoon-style simplicity; their broad washes and fuzzy edges reveal the texture of the paper on which they were created. Both Spanish and English texts are direct, inviting, and expressive." — Kirkus Reviews

This bilingual children's book is a thoughtful story that may well aid in the opening of young minds. Skillfully translated, the text contains fun sound-effect words such as "Pop-pop-zaz" and "¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!, ¡Tilín!" that add a feeling of presence and participation in the story. This book belongs in the collections of people who care about others and who wish to inform. — Foreword Reviews

From the Publisher