 Hand carved wooden animals by Martin and Qurino Santiago from Oaxaca, Mexico juxtaposed to teach children opposites.  Cover of ABeCedarios: A Mexican Folk Art ABC in Spanish and English  Making ABeCedarios was a family affair. The figures were carved by Moises and Armando, then the pieces were sanded by the Jimenez children. Finally, wives Antonia and Oralia painted each piece. Even grandparents, Raquel and Alejandro pitched in!  Original embroidered cover and book jacket of Ten Mice for Tet. Each page of the book was hand sewn by Mr. Dinh and his family in the village of Quat Dong, Vietnam.  Author, Cynthia Weill and embroiderer Pham Viet Dinh |
WelcomeAuthor of Opuestos: Mexican Folk Art Opposites in Spanish and English (coming July 2009) ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABCs in Spanish and English (Cinco Puntos, 2007) and Ten Mice for Tet (Chronicle, 2004) Opuestos is an opposites book and ABeCedarios is an alphabet book. Both use hand carved Oaxacan figurines of animals to illustrate basic concepts in Spanish and English for children. For more information go to www.cincopuntos.com. Click on Teacher Resources. Ten Mice for Tet is a counting book which follows a mouse family's preparations for Tet, The Vietnamese New Year. For more information go to www.chroniclebooks.com and click on the Ten Mice for Tet icon. About Cynthia Weill Cynthia is trained as an educator and art historian and has lived and worked in Asia, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. She has always been fascinated by folk art and for many years has helped artisans to improve their output. The seeds for her books, ABeCedarios and Opuestos were planted in 1996 when Cindy was a Fulbright Exchange teacher in Mexico City. On the weekends, Cindy travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico where she fell in love with the enormous array of crafts. She became particularly interested in the wood carvings of Arrazola and La Union Tejalapan, Mexico. On a return trip in 2003, Cindy was introduced to woodcarvers Armando and Moises Jimenez, grandsons of the founder of the tradition, Manuel Jimenez. She worked with the Jimenez family and long-time photographer friend K.B. Basseches to develop 29 animal figures to represent the Spanish and English alphabets. During this time, she also met the Santiago brothers: Martin and Quirino, carvers from the hamlet of La Union. A friendship formed and they and other family members supplied the figures for Opuestos. Crafts are an economic lifeline for many Oaxacans. Oaxacan woodcarvings are usually purchased by visitors to Oaxaca for decorative purposes. Cindy says, "I am very proud to have found an educational use for the work. This will promote the sustainability of the craft and aid in the overall economic well being of the artisans." (For more information go to Teachers Resources at www.cincopuntos.com.) ABeCedarios received a starred review in the Fall 2007 Criticas Connection Oaxacan wood carvings are made from the copal tree. After removing the bark, the artisan traces out the figure with a machete then uses a smaller knife to carve out the finer details. The figure is painted after drying in the sunlight for several days. It took about a week to make each of the animal figures in ABeCedarios. Cindy is also the author of Ten Mice for Tet(www.chroniclebooks.com). (Click the Ten Mice for Tet icon for a slide show.) While working in humanitarian assistance in Ha Noi, Vietnam she visited the ancient embroidery village of Quat Dong. There she befriended master embroiderer, Pham Viet Dinh. Over the months a friendship developed as the pair collaborated on various stitchery projects. After Dinh had copied an antique wood block print entitled "Mouse Wedding", Cindy felt the work would make beautiful pictures for a children's book. What transpired was Ten Mice for Tet; and over the next three years dozens of Americans and Vietnamese came together to create a unique work of art. Each page of the book including the cover was hand embroidered. Awards for Ten Mice for Tet |
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