Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems

Celebrate city life, school, and family while sharing loss, earthquakes and even Ángeles del mar (sea angels) in vivid illustrations and short poems presented in both Spanish and English. Though some poems are distinctly southern Californian, all resonate with universally recognizable emotions.

Inspired by a visit to the Iguazu National Park in South America, Francisco X. Alarcón celebrates its animals, skies, waterfalls, and more in these short and vibrant bilingual poems. Each page holds pulsating paintings that swirl and move, further vivifying each poem.

Every day is a celebration, from Sunday with grandparents to an all-play day Saturday. Short, lively poems are exuberantly illustrated and presented in Spanish and English.

The poet remembers summers growing up in Mexico in poems presented in both English and Spanish. Readers meet his family and join them in the everyday joys of the sunny season. Illustrations are as colorful and evocative as the words.

Francisco X. Alarcón describes in this book many of his winter experiences growing up in the city of San Francisco, California. He has taken many of his childhood experiences to create fun, creative poems.

Dreams are for the day and the night. Children dream for themselves as well as their community and their world. Short poems, richly imagined and vibrantly illustrated appear in English and Spanish and are firmly rooted in a child’s experience.