The Girl from Chimel
Nobel Peace Prize winner and noted Maya activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum brings the world of her childhood vividly to life in The Girl from Chimel. This evocative memoir for children is beautifully illustrated by noted Mazatec-Mexican artist Domi.
Before the thirty-six-year war in Guatemala, despite the hardships the Maya people had endured since the time of the Conquest, life in their highland villages had a beauty and integrity that were changed forever by the conflict and brutal genocide that were to come. Through stories of her grandparents and parents and of the natural world, and her retellings of the stories that she was told as a young girl, Rigoberta Menchú presents a rich, humorous and engaging picture of that lost world.
Key Text Features
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
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DOMI is a well-known Mazateca artist, whose vivid illustrations appear in many children's books, including The Story of Colors by Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos, The Night the Moon Fell (La noche que se cayó la luna) and The Race of Toad and Deer (La carrera del sapo y el venado), both by Pat Mora. She has also illustrated The Girl from Chimel and The Honey Jar, by Rigoberta Menchú and Dante Liano. She lives in Tlaquepaque, Mexico.
DAVID UNGER is an award-winning translator and author born in Guatemala. His work has been translated into Italian, Spanish and Chinese. He received Guatemala's 2014 Miguel Angel Asturias National Prize in Literature for lifetime achievement, though he writes exclusively in English and lives in the US. His many translations include The Girl from Chimel, The Honey Jar and Popul Vuh: A Sacred Book of the Maya.
...a vivid memoir of [Menchu's] girlhood in the then unspoiled village of Chimel...the book memorializes an idyllic interdependency between the human and the natural...-- "Canadian Literature"
...the text throughout is captivating and provides a rare glimpse at indigenous Guatemalan and Mayan culture.-- "Bulletin"
Created with strong, primitive forms and vibrant colors, full-page oil paintings brighten half the double-page spreads and provide memorable scenes of Chimel through three generations.-- "Booklist"
Domi...adds full-page, folk-art style scenes in glowing colors...the effect is as atmospheric as the text.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Domi's colorful flat oil paintings, with traditional Mayan symbols and motifs, perfectly complement this collection.-- "Book Links"
This slim book would be a welcome addition to a school or public library.-- "Resource Links"
