Jairo Buitrago – författare

Listed as one of the Best Children's Books of 2012 by Kirkus, honored with the Horn Book Fanfare, and selected for the School Library Journal's 100 Magnificent Children's Books of 2012Jimmy lives in a small town by the sea where there is just one tiny gym. The owner of the gym suggests that Jimmy start training, and to inspire him, he gives Jimmy a box full of books, as well as newspaper clippings about Muhammad Ali - "The Greatest." Jimmy is swept with admiration for Ali. He begins to read and run and box like crazy, even though someone at the gym has taken his shoes. And as he does so, he makes a great discovery: you don't have to leave home to be "the greatest."Unlike many stories about emigration, Jairo Buitrago's simple, profound text is about someone who decides to stay in his small remote town in Latin America. Combined with Rafael Yockteng's humorous illustrations, this book will be especially appealing to boys and boxing aficionados.The Spanish edition, ¡Jimmy, el más grande!, was recently nominated for one of "Los mejores libros del año" (Best Books of the Year) by Venezuela's Banco del Libro.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

In this moving and timely story, a young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the US border.They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn’t know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. Sometimes she sees soldiers. She sleeps, dreaming that she is always on the move, although sometimes they are forced to stop and her father has to earn more money before they can continue their journey.As many thousands of people, especially children, in Mexico and Central America continue to make the arduous journey to the US border in search of a better life, this is an important book that shows a young migrant’s perspective.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

A simple, imaginative story depicting the complex emotional reality of a girl whose father no longer lives at home. The girl conjures up an imaginary companion — a lion — who will join her on the long walk home from school. He will help her to pick up her baby brother from daycare and shop at the store (which has cut off the family’s credit), and he’ll keep her company all along the way until she is safely home. He will always come back when she needs him, unlike her father whom she sees only in a photograph — a photograph in which he clearly resembles a lion.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

In this moving and timely story, a young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the US border.They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn’t know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. Sometimes she sees soldiers. She sleeps, dreaming that she is always on the move, although sometimes they are forced to stop and her father has to earn more money before they can continue their journey.As many thousands of people, especially children, in Mexico and Central America continue to make the arduous journey to the US border in search of a better life, this is an important book that shows a young migrant’s perspective.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

“Those who feel physically or emotionally distant from beloved adults will take comfort in the idea that there are others who care. A subtle and affecting journey to resilience best shared one-on-one to pore over the spectacular artwork.”—School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEWFrom one of the great creative teams in picture books, On the Other Side of the Garden is about a city girl learning to accept the change brought about by her parents’ separation after she is left at her grandmother’s house in the country. The girl feels abandoned and lonely, but after venturing into the nighttime garden, she is befriended by an owl, a frog and a mouse. Her talkative new companions show her an extraordinary new world by the light of the moon. When the girl gets back in the morning, her grandmother seems neither alarmed or angry about the girl’s nighttime adventures. Instead she gently introduces her granddaughter to her new surroundings, making clear that the girl is welcome. And as the sun warms their backs, the two seem content to get to know each other better. Buitrago’s stories convey large truths through understatement and suggestion. This story, beautifully illustrated by Yockteng, shows how a child can use her own bravery and curiosity to confront confusing and potentially frightening realities, such as a parents’ separation and being left with an almost unknown relative. There is an endnote about the plants and animals that might be found in such a garden.Key Text Featuresgarden inventoryCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

"This inspired story about the magic of art, nature, and educators is a breath of fresh air.”—Booklist“Full of wonder... Schoolhouse bliss.”—Kirkus STARRED ReviewLet’s all draw dinosaurs … outdoors!In this remarkable picture book, a group of students spend an unforgettable day drawing dinosaurs outside with their extraordinary teacher.Maybe your school has a playground, gym, computers, and a library. But at this school in a faraway mountain range, things are a little different. There’s a blackboard, some chairs … and not much else. But with the help of an extraordinary teacher and a little imagination, anything is possible!The students in this spirited picture book spend their days drawing dinosaurs outdoors. They draw astounding, spectacular creatures that come to life before their eyes, and turn their school into a wondrous place, where any child would want to go and learn.Drawing Outdoors celebrates the amazing impact of teachers, and the wonderful worlds kids can create while drawing. A perfect gift for a beloved teacher, kids who love dinosaurs, and aspiring artists!An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

Entre dos montañas, cerca de un arroyo, en medio de la nada, se encuentra una escuela sin patio de juegos, gimnasio, biblioteca, ni computadoras. Como dice la niña que nos cuenta está historia: “Nuestra escuela no tiene casi nada. Un pizarrón, unas sillas”.Pero en esta escuela hay algo que nadie más tiene: una maestra como ninguna otra en el mundo. “Ahí está siempre, en la puerta de la escuela esperándonos en la mañana”, dice la niña.El día en que se desarrolla esta historia, la maestra lleva a sus alumnos afuera y les pide que dibujen algo grande y puntiagudo escondido entre los árboles. A medida que los estudiantes observan de cerca, comienzan a comprender lo que están viendo… ¡pero, entonces, la maestra ya está señalando a la próxima bestia magnífica!Este inspirador e ingenioso libro hará que cualquier niño tenga el inmenso deseo de asistir a esta escuela especial y recibir lecciones de esta extraordinaria maestra.¿Y quién dice que esto no puede suceder en todas partes? An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

This “sublime picture book” (Kirkus STARRED Review) offers a hilarious and insightful guide to making new friends at your own pace. For kids aged 4 to 7, Ways to Make Friends will bolster compassion and make kids laugh on their way back to school.What’s the best way to make friends? Toad has the most magnificent ideas! Sometimes they don’t go according to plan… but that’s okay. Eventually Toad tires of making new friends, but comes to a marvelous conclusion: sometimes being with yourself is a good way to pass the time too.A hilarious and heartfelt read for kids who are starting school or experiencing other unfamiliar social situations, Ways to Make Friends will give them the courage to stand on their own—and maybe try one of Toad’s unconventional methods to make a friend for themselves.

Funny, fresh and very modern, this update on the fable of the lion and the mouse is a marvelous tale of a relationship between two unlikely friends.One day, the mouse marches into the lion’s den without an invitation. Before the lion can eat him for breakfast, the mouse begs for mercy. “If you let me go, I might be able to return the favor.” The lion laughs at the idea of such a small, insignificant creature helping him out … until the next day when the mouse frees the lion from a hunter’s trap.Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng, one of the great creative teams in picture books, have fun in this simple and never-didactic story about how it’s possible to get along through negotiation, acceptance and learning to put up with a friend’s eccentricities. You can be good to one another not because you expect anything in return but just because you are friends.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2>With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

A story about the heart-opening effect that taking care of a wounded creature has on a wounded boy, from acclaimed picture-book creators Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng.Adrián is always in trouble, at school and at home, while Santiago gets along quite well. But they are friends. When Adrián finds a wounded bird in an abandoned lot in the midst of the city, things begin to change. Taking care of the bird, learning all about it, discovering that it is a falcon, loving it — and accepting what this love means — gives Adrián a chance to show others a glimpse of who he truly is. Santiago has always known that Adrián has a big heart, and his steadfast friendship is also the reason Adrián has a chance to heal. Key Text Featuresillustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Ana looks out the pet store window with the store’s last remaining animals for sale—a dog, a hedgehog and a mouse. What are they waiting for? Ana remembers finding the dog and bringing him to the store as a puppy. She’s watched as all the other dogs—the most charming, the most elegant, the strongest—have all gone off. Ana, too, has never left, except at nights when she closes the store and goes home to the modest apartment she shares with her grandmother. But a day comes when the store owner announces that he has sold the store. An office tower will be built in its place. It makes no difference to him what happens to the animals, but Ana knows what she does next will make all the difference to her friends. Because after being together so long, isn’t that what they are?An exciting new offering by internationally acclaimed, award-winning picture book creators Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng, The Pet Store Window is a stirring reminder of those who are often overlooked or left behind by society, showing readers the ways in which we can offer each other hope, support and friendship in difficult times. Key Text Featuresillustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

A simple, imaginative story depicting the complex emotional reality of a girl whose father no longer lives at home. The girl conjures up an imaginary companion — a lion — who will join her on the long walk home from school. He will help her to pick up her baby brother from daycare and shop at the store (which has cut off the family’s credit), and he’ll keep her company all along the way until she is safely home. He will always come back when she needs him, unlike her father whom she sees only in a photograph — a photograph in which he clearly resembles a lion.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Funny, fresh and very modern, this update on the fable of the lion and the mouse is a marvelous tale of a relationship between two unlikely friends.One day, the mouse marches into the lion’s den without an invitation. Before the lion can eat him for breakfast, the mouse begs for mercy. “If you let me go, I might be able to return the favor.” The lion laughs at the idea of such a small, insignificant creature helping him out … until the next day when the mouse frees the lion from a hunter’s trap.Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng, one of the great creative teams in picture books, have fun in this simple and never-didactic story about how it’s possible to get along through negotiation, acceptance and learning to put up with a friend’s eccentricities. You can be good to one another not because you expect anything in return but just because you are friends.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2>With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

From world renowned master storyteller Jairo Buitrago comes a stunning story of place and the simple pleasures of the desert.Who knows whether, maybe, you might like this story.Against the backdrop of the vast desert, two little girls are celebrating their grandmother’s birthday in her house, with a little table, hats and lemonade. But nobody else has shown up.“I have a very big friend who lives all alone,” explains their grandmother, and so, the three of them set out searching for the friend. Quickly, they find themselves alone, surrounded by the beautiful blooming desert. In the quiet moments, the girls begin to wonder: perhaps there is no greater gift than the time they spend together.Filled with breathtaking illustrations from award-winning artist Manuel Monroy, Desert Flowers is an extraordinary depiction of the Mexican desert and is a beautiful expression of intergenerational relationships and the small comforts of everyday life.More than a story of a grandmother, a cactus, an owl,a little table in the middle of nowhere…and two girls—It's a story of how happy I felt when I met them.An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

“A simply profound exploration of time and timelessness."—Booklist, STARRED reviewA marvelous picture book about the history of the world, told through the story of one small hill, from world renowned master storyteller Jairo Buitrago and Hans Christian Andersen Award shortlisted illustrator Linda Wolfsgruber.Somewhere in this world there is a small hill, where three girls are taking off their shoes. But many thousands of years ago, a dinosaur saw a brilliant star falling as he stood on that same hill. The ice age comes and goes, castles are built and fall into ruin. The world grows and changes around the hill: trees are planted, a family seeks refuge, and houses are built below it. Now it’s time for the girls to put their shoes back on and go home.This beautiful book provides us with a way to imagine the incredible things that happened in our world before we were around.

STARRED Reviews in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Shelf AwarenessA Best Book of the Year—Kirkus, The Times of LondonThis "beautifully illustrated, nearly wordless book" (New York Times) set in the dawn of human life imagines how art and storytelling were born from the power of one young girl's observation.Once upon a time, during the Pleistocene, somewhere between two-and-a-half million and ten thousand years ago, small groups of people traveled their known world, hunting for food, seeking shelter, and slowly becoming more like the people we are today.As far back as 40,000 years ago (and maybe even earlier) people began drawing pictures on cave walls. And a bit later, they carved images onto stones. Some pictures are of humans, usually drawn as stick figures, but most are of animals. We don't know their purpose, though in some cases, evidence seems to suggest they were used for storytelling. But when we look at these pictures, we can't help but admire the extraordinary talent of the first artists. They aren't just scratches on the wall. They are great art.In this book of few words, we follow a young girl who notices everything that happens around her as her people search for a cave to shelter for the winter. And we can believe that she feels the absolute necessity to draw what she has seen and to tell stories.Afterward, Everything was Different features:Backmatter explaining what we know—and don't know—about cave drawings.Stunning black and white illustrations of life during the Pleistocene.An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

“A simply profound exploration of time and timelessness."—Booklist, STARRED reviewA marvelous picture book about the history of the world, told through the story of one small hill, from world renowned master storyteller Jairo Buitrago and Hans Christian Andersen Award shortlisted illustrator Linda Wolfsgruber.Somewhere in this world there is a small hill, where three girls are taking off their shoes. But many thousands of years ago, a dinosaur saw a brilliant star falling as he stood on that same hill. The ice age comes and goes, castles are built and fall into ruin. The world grows and changes around the hill: trees are planted, a family seeks refuge, and houses are built below it. Now it’s time for the girls to put their shoes back on and go home.This beautiful book provides us with a way to imagine the incredible things that happened in our world before we were around.

From world renowned master storyteller Jairo Buitrago comes a stunning story of place and the simple pleasures of the desert.Who knows whether, maybe, you might like this story.Against the backdrop of the vast desert, two little girls are celebrating their grandmother’s birthday in her house, with a little table, hats and lemonade. But nobody else has shown up.“I have a very big friend who lives all alone,” explains their grandmother, and so, the three of them set out searching for the friend. Quickly, they find themselves alone, surrounded by the beautiful blooming desert. In the quiet moments, the girls begin to wonder: perhaps there is no greater gift than the time they spend together.Filled with breathtaking illustrations from award-winning artist Manuel Monroy, Desert Flowers is an extraordinary depiction of the Mexican desert and is a beautiful expression of intergenerational relationships and the small comforts of everyday life.More than a story of a grandmother, a cactus, an owl,a little table in the middle of nowhere…and two girls—It's a story of how happy I felt when I met them.An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids