The Upside Down Boy / El niño de cabeza

By Juan Felipe Herrera, Elizabeth Gomez
Paperback: $11.95

Bilingual English/Spanish. The Upside Down Boy is award-winning poet Juan Felipe Herrera’s engaging memoir of the year his migrant family settled down so that he could go to school for the first time.

Description

Juanito is bewildered by the new school, and he misses the warmth of country life. Everything he does feels upside down. He eats lunch when it’s recess; he goes out to play when it’s time for lunch; and his tongue feels like a rock when he tries to speak English. But a sensitive teacher and loving family help him to find his voice and make a place for himself in this new world through poetry, art, and music.

Juan Felipe Herrera’s playful language and the colorful, magical art of Elizabeth Gómez capture the universal experience of children entering a new school feeling like strangers in a world that seems upside down-at first.

About the Creators

Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Herrera is an acclaimed poet and children's book author. His first children's book, Calling the Doves, won the prestigious Ezra Jack Keats Award, and another book, The Upside Down Boy, was made into a musical for young audiences in 2004. He teaches at California State University, Fresno.

Elizabeth Gomez

Elizabeth Gómez is an internationally exhibited painter, widely acclaimed for her brilliant use of color and fantastical imagery. Her artwork for The Upside Down Boy by Juan Felipe Herrera was praised for its "delightful humor" and "colorful metaphor." A native of Mexico City, she now lives in Redwood City, California, with her husband and children.

Reviews

  • "Juan Felipe Herrera's story—the product of stream of consciousness recollections from his third grade experience—makes for a warm and vivid children's book. . . Elizabeth Gómez illustrates with an equal flair for colorful metaphor."

    - The Bloomsbury Review

  • "The Upside Down Boy is more than good--it's excellent. It is. . . a celebration of family, and of the importance of a frank dialogue between parents and children. [Elizabeth Gómez]'s multicolored, fantastical pictures, with their vibrant colors and echoes of Marc Chagall. . . enrich the text with all kinds of humorous details."

    - Newsweek en Español

Paperback

  • ISBN 9780892392179
  • Price $11.95
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 2013
  • Trim Size 9.75 × 8 × 0.141 in
  • Weight 0.29375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1198

    • Interests

  • Imprint Children's Book Press
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Social Themes / Emigration & Immigration
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Social Themes / New Experience
  • Themes Bilingual, Biography / Memoir, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Conflict resolution, Courage, Dreams & Aspirations, Education, Families, Farming, Fathers, Fiction, Friendship, Home, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Immigration, Kindness / Caring, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Mothers, Nonfiction, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Overcoming Obstacles, Poetry, Realistic Fiction, Self Control / Self Regulation

    • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 5
  • Guided Reading Q
  • Spanish Guided Reading P
  • ATOS Book Level 3.1
  • DRA 30
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 5
  • Lexile Code AD
  • Lexile Level 560
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • SRC 2.9
  • Bebop Reading Fluent

    • Resources

    The Upside Down Boy – El niño de cabeza Teachers Guide
    The Upside Down Boy – El niño de cabeza Teachers Guide

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