Today, we’re thrilled to celebrate the release of ¡Tocamos!: Mexican Folk Art Music Makers in English and Spanish by Cynthia Weill, with wooden sculptures from Oaxaca by Avelino Pérez!
About the Book
Musical feathered friends gather to form an ensemble! A rooster brings a double bass, a crow totes a trombone, and a macaw carries an accordion. They are almost all together but wait–someone is missing! Once the final member joins the group, the music begins!
Featuring vibrant wood carvings and rhythmic text that’s fun to read aloud in both English and Spanish, ¡Tocamos! introduces children to many orchestral instruments played at concerts in Mexican town squares. Each bird was lovingly hand carved and painted by master woodcarver Avelino Pérez who lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. Both Cynthia and Avelino are delighted to teach children the names of instrumentos musicales in Spanish and English.
Use discount code SPRING25 at checkout to get 25% off purchase your of ¡TOCAMOS!
Young readers will delight in learning about a wide variety of musical instruments in English and Spanish through beautifully handcrafted sculptures from Oaxaca, Mexico!
“The large, bold text makes the words easy to read and the vocabulary is fun to learn as readers easily spot the instruments on each page. Readers are sure to enjoy each of the beautifully carved birds, spotting new details on each wooden piece of art with every reading. . . A wonderful addition to this creative bilingual board book series, this title shows children different types of instruments in English and Spanish while also highlighting a talented artisan from Mexico.” — School Library Journal
In an interview with KidLit TV, author Cynthia Weill recalled the incredible work that she and Oaxacan artist Avelino Pérez collaborated on for their previous book, Vámonos.
“Avelino has a rare gift,” Cindy said. “Without the benefit of artistic training he is able to imagine and innovate as well as impart personality to his pieces. He is a master artisan.”
Considering this and the fact that Cindy’s favorite thing to do in Oaxaca is listen to local orchestras playing in the zócalo (town square), the creation of ¡Tocamos! felt like a perfect storm.
Cynthia Weill's fascination with the crafts of Oaxaca began while she was working in Mexico as a Fulbright exchange teacher. She has published several books in the Mexican Folk Art series, which features different folk art of Oaxaca. Many of the figures showcased in this series are now part of the permanent Mesoamerican Anthropology collections at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Cindy lives in New York City and can be found online at cynthiaweill.net.
Avelino Pérez is a wood carving artisan who loves his state's local concerts and enjoyed using his musical birds to represent these musicians and their instruments. It took him months to hand carve every single figure to help teach children about musicians and instruments in Spanish and English. Avelino lives in Oaxaca, Mexico.
