Cynthia S. Weill, Author
De Colores: The Raza Experience for Children in Books
The most thorough and well-researched review of my books.
Cynthia Weill in Oaxaca, Mexico

My newest work, Animal Talk (Cinco Puntos 2016). Gorgeous carvings by Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa of Oaxaca, Mexico.

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See YouTube video on right for news about the Opuestos artists.

Count me in! A counting book with figurative ceramics by the world famous Aguilar sisters!

Mi Familia Calaca/My Skeleton Family. Stunning paper mache calacas by award winning artist, Jesus Canseco Zarate.

Colores de la Vida uses work from wood, tin, ceramic and papier-mache artisans. Many of the artisans are considered, "Great Master of Mexican Folk Art."

Each piece in this alphabet book was hand carved by the Jiménez family of Oaxaca, Mexico

Original embroidered cover and book jacket of Ten Mice for Tet. Each page of the book was hand sewn by a family of embroiderers in Quat Dong, Vietnam.

Welcome!

My books use folk arts from around the world to illustrate basic concepts for children. The current series employs handicrafts commissioned from artisans in Oaxaca, Mexico to teach children the alphabet, opposites, colors and numbers in Spanish and English.

It takes two to four years to create the artwork in my books. Each piece is hand made by artisanal families in Oaxaca, Mexico. The pieces are so unique that they are part of the permanent collection at the Field Museum of Chicago.

One of my favorite books is Opuestos. See the short video, link on the right, about Martin and Quirino Santiago. Martin and Quirino live in a hamlet in the northern sierra of Oaxaca. They hand carved each of the whimsical figures depicted.


School Visits and Presentations

I am available for school visits and presentations. You can contact me through my Facebook page. See the link to the right. My presentations usually focus on the families who made the pieces for each book and their process.


You can purchase my books through Cinco Puntos Press at www.cincopuntos.com. Paper back versions are available to teachers through Club Leo at Scholastic for: ABeCedarios, Opuestos, Colores de la vida, Mi Familia Calaca and Animal Talk. See the Cinco Puntos website for power points and lesson plans based on my work.

An e-book version of Ten Mice for Tet is available through Chronicle. Contact me if you would like to purchase a print version. See the articles in the right hand column if you want to know more about the village where the embroidered panels for Ten Mice for Tet were made.