Combining poetic language and the traditions of magic realism to paint a vivid portrait of her family, Pat Mora’s House of Houses is an unconventional memoir that reads as if every member, death notwithstanding, is in one room talking, laughing, and crying. In a salute to the Day of the Dead, the story begins with a visit to the cemetery in which all of her deceased relatives come alive to share stories of the family, literally bringing the food to their own funerals. From there t...

Pat Mora is a Mexican-American author and poet. She writes short books for children about families, Mexican-American culture, and the desert. In this exclusive video interview with ¡Colorín Colorado! Pat Mora tells us about her childhood, her books, and Día de los Niños/Día de los libros

Mora is a Mexican-American author and poet. She writes short books for children about families, Mexican-American culture, and the desert. Many of her books have the English and Spanish words side-by-side.

Evocatively written in the form of letters, this guide offers seven powerful practices and corresponding activities for cultivating your own creativity and that of all your students.

A Common Core Exemplar Text by an award-winning author-illustrator teamTomás is a son of migrant workers. Every summer he and his family follow the crops north from Texas to Iowa, spending long, arduous days in the fields. At night they gather around to hear Grandfather's wonderful stories. But before long, Tomás knows all the stories by heart. "There are more stories in the library,"Papa Grande tells him. The very next day, Tomás meets the library lady and a whol...

Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in a puebla with lots of families. She loves her neighbors–she lets the children use her flowers for trumpets, and the families use her leftover tortillas for rafts. So when a huge puma is terrifying the village, of course Flor is the one to investigate.Featuring Spanish words and phrases throughout, as well as a glossary, Pat Mora’s story, along with Raúl Colón’s glorious artwork, makes this a treat for any reader, tall or small. Award-winning a...

Doña Flor, una señora gigante, vive en un pueblo pequeñito. Los vecinosla adoran y ella adora a sus vecinos. Deja que los niños utilicen las flores de su jardín como trompetas y las tortillas como balsas. A Doña Flor le encanta leer y con frecuencia puedes verla rodeada de niños que escuchan atentos las historias de sus libros.Un día un tremendo aullido de animal proveniente de las afueras del pueblo asusta a todos, incluida a Doña Flor. Quiere proteger a sus queridos vecino...

An award-winning biography about the inspiring life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.From a very young age, Juana Inés loved words. When she was three years old, she followed her sister to school and begged the teacher to let her stay so she could learn how to read. Juana enjoyed poring over books and was soon making up her own stories, songs, and poems.Juana wanted to become a scholar, but career options for women were limited at this time. She decided to beco...

Beloved children's book author and speaker Pat Mora has written an original collection of poems, each with a different teen narrator sharing unique thoughts, moments, sadness, or heart’s desire: the girl who loves swimming, plunging into the water that creates her own world; the guy who leaves flowers on the windshield of the girl he likes. Each of the teens in these 50 original poems, written using a variety of poetic forms, will be recognizable to the reader as the universal emotions, id...

Inspired by Edgar Lee Masters’s Spoon River Anthology and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Pat Mora brings us the poetic monologues of Encantado, an imagined southwestern town.Each poem forms a story that reveals the complex and emotional journeys we take through life. Mora meanders through the thoughts of Encantado’s residents—the mothers and sisters, brothers and fathers in whom we see slivers of ourselves and our loved ones—and paints a portrait of a community throu...

Cada diciembre, abuelita Lupita le cuenta a Rosa la historia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Mientras ambas hacen flores de papel para colocar alrededor de su estatua, abuelita comienza: Hace mucho tiempo, durante una fría mañana de diciembre, cerca de lo que hoy es la Ciudad de México, un señor llamado Juan Diego se puso su tilma y comenzó a caminar…Durante su camino, Juan Diego se encuentra con una hermosa Señora rodeada de luz, cuyo manto cubierto de estrellas, brilla. ...

An inspiring collection of Pat Mora's own glorious poems celebrating a love of words and all the ways we use and interact with them: reading, speaking, writing, and singing.Whether we are collecting words, reading favorite books in the library, celebrating holidays, writing poems, sharing secrets, or singing a jazzy duet, words and books can take us on wonderful adventures and bring us joy. Poet Pat Mora has brought together a collection of her poems that celebrate...