In honor of Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros - the Latinas for Latina Literature are hosting a blog hop and special giveaway. I am thrilled to host F. Isabel Campoy - sharing a lesson she learned from a autistic boy named Kio. And a beautiful poem. Enjoy.
I
have the great privilege of knowing a genius. He lives in a different
continent and I cannot communicate with him in his first language, but
Kio opens the window of his mind in so many ways that I have learned to
understand, admire, love and value, his unique take at life through his
actions.
It
is a challenge for me to catch up with his level of knowledge and
understanding of his fields of interest, but that is precisely what
attracts me to his personality.
Kio
lives in Europe and by his ninth birthday he could translate, from
English, complex manuals about how things work. English by the way, is
his second language.
Kio’s
parents are young professionals with demanding social and economical
responsibilities and Kio’s personality has been a difficult path to
understand, first, and a unique opportunity for them to venture into
less traditional paths for parenting and organizing family life.
Through
them I became interested in knowing more about what doctor’s called his
“disorder” and I have read articles, blogs, and first person narratives
of professionals and parents who are part of the “Autism Spectrum
Experience.” Kio belongs to the group of children who live with
Aspergers.
When
I was invited to write for this blog I felt I couldn’t share any
intelligent opinion, first-hand experience or interesting reading advice
for the growing community of families who live the Autism culture on a
daily basis. At first I wanted to learn facts, figures, everything
available about the field but then I realized that my approach could
only be the one of a friend, teacher, children’s author, who walks along
with all the parents in this path of unknowns.
There
is one thing though that I can do, and that is to help raise the
awareness of this community wherever I go and whenever I am speaking to
teachers, parents, and children. It takes a village, yes. It takes each
and every one of us to create the paths of inclusion, to share spaces
and activities, no matter how new those experiences are for all, to
learn to understand silence, solitude, separation, in order to create
new ways of communication, care, and camaraderie.
I
have reached an age in which I finally understand how precious life is.
I took it for granted for sixty years and now I cannot stop admiring
our human capacity to adapt and to invent, to wander and wonder and to
marvel at each new turn of any living creature.
My
pen is my only weapon to conquer the minds of my readers. I put it here
to the disposal of the cause for insatiable hope. And let us carry a
book in our hands on the way THERE. Any kind of book, as Kio has taught
me.
Here is to the celebration of books and children:
Día de los niños. Día de los libros
F. Isabel Campoy
Warning.
Open with care.
Laughter, fear, wonder,
forests, lions, monsters,
all hide between the covers of a book
ready to jump out and grab you
and lead you
down an endless trail of mystery.
Get ready
to fly, to seize the power
hidden in a well-told tale.
Get ready to sail to the Moon
and back. To open the curtains wide
to a thousand stories,
dive deeply into the lives
of the wild and free.
Get ready to follow the footprints
of great adventurers
to look inside the hearts of heroes
to triumph over a zillion dangers
and end up as the hero
of your own epic tale.
Beware.
Proceed with caution.
Rich rewards await for those who dare.
F. ISABEL CAMPOY is the author of numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theatre, stories, biographies, and art. As a researcher she has published extensively bringing to the curriculum an awareness of the richness of the Hispanic culture. She is an educator specialized in the area of literacy and home school interaction, topics on which she lectures nationally. Her extensive writing, of over 150 titles, has been recognized with the Laureate Award from San Francisco Public Library, the Reading the World Award, the Junior Library Guild Award, among others. She is a member of the American Academy of Poets as well as of several organizations for the advancement of multicultural awareness and world peace.
***
The Giveaway
L4LL
has put together a wonderful collection of Latino children’s literature
to be given to a school or public library. Many of the books were
donated by the authors and illustrators participating in this blog hop.
You can read a complete list of titles (as well as the blog hop
SCHEDULE) here on the L4LL website.
To enter your school library or local library in the giveaway, simply leave a comment below.
The
deadline to enter is 11:59 EST, Monday, April 29th. The winner will be
chosen using Random.org and announced on the L4LL website on April 30th,
Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros, and will be contacted via email -
so be sure to leave a valid email address in your comment! (If we have
no way to contact you, we'll have to choose someone else!)
¡Buena suerte!
Born and raised in New York City, the World Trade Center was part of my everyday life. My aunt had a hair salon there for years. My father worked blocks away. I attended college within walking distance. (The morning the Towers collapsed, I was supposed to go down to school to buy my school books.)
