The Young Teacher and the Great Serpent

August 15, 2023
A convergence of traditions emerges when a young teacher joins an Indigenous community living beside the Amazon River. Fresh off her studies, a young woman from the city reluctantly prepares for her first teaching assignment, at La Comunidad Las Delicias, where about 50 Indigenous families live. Her journey from the city to Las Delicias takes four days. Finally, she arrives at the village. Palomino's panoramic artwork depicts the remarkable trek by featuring a series of expansive, formidable, lushly colored double-page spreads. The teacher settles into the ramshackle school with help from the children. Her treasured books are "the only things that [make] her feel sure of herself." When a fearful storm brews one day, the students tell the teacher that the great serpent is coming. At first, she dismisses the warnings as mere legends, but as she heads to high ground with the rest of Las Delicias, she sees the river become "a great serpent of mud that carried off everything it found in its path," including her books. To mend the young teacher's heartbreak, the women and children of Las Delicias embroider and sew together cloth books, uniting their own stories and legends into a reforged library. Translated from Spanish, this is a gracefully told tale of cross-cultural dialogue, bolstered by stunning illustrations. A subtle, incisive rumination on the repercussions of colonization runs through the work, inviting further rereads. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Undeniably marvelous. (Picture book. 5-9)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2023
Grades 1-3 A young teacher gets her first classroom in a school located deep in the jungle. She gathers her belongings to make the permanent move, but her uneasiness remains as others warn her about it. She arrives and is stunned by the beauty and simplicity of the small Indigenous village, where she is lovingly welcomed by villagers, many of whom only speak their native tongue. All apprehension she felt about the jungle is now replaced with determination. She equips her classroom with her beloved books, sharing their stories with her students. But when a natural disaster strikes (one best known as the great serpent), she learns that the villagers' understanding of their region through their own observations and in their legends exceeds anything she's learned in books. She realizes that she has much to learn from her neighbors, and together they make a new kind of book to fill her library. This lovely story about inclusion and community encourages teachers to see themselves as students as opposed to missionaries. Schimel's adept translation is beautifully complemented by the bold, expressionistic artwork.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2023

Gr 1-3-After many long years of study, one fledgling teacher is finally ready to share her beloved books and knowledge with students far and wide. But when her first assignment takes her from the dense city to a remote community called Las Delicias in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, everything she thought she knew is called into question. This book transports readers into the rainforest through the eyes of a young teacher who has been taught to promote reading, writing, and geography over lore and legend. Lengthy text describes the teacher's harrowing journey to her assignment, frequently emphasizing the importance of her books over the danger she faces. The illustrations bring the legends of the Amazon to vivid life, juxtaposing humans and the jungle in colorful, emotion-filled images. The jungle and its residents are oversized compared to the humans and their settlements, and as the teacher transitions from residence in one locale to the next, readers observe the changes she makes as a result of her embracing the way of life found in her new community. VERDICT This visually compelling tale is a thought-provoking addition to libraries for elementary school-aged readers.-Mary R. Lanni

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
A young teacher (unnamed in the text) sets off to her remote school assignment in the Amazon armed with determination and a precious box of books. Her students warn her of the coming "great serpent" and run out of class one day; she grudgingly follows them but thinks they need to learn that legends aren't real. When she watches the serpent of mud caused by heavy rains and a rising river sweep away the school and her books, she begins to understand why she should have taken the students seriously. Adults share with the teacher their practice of embroidering images of legends and creating cloth books, which allows them to replenish the school library and inspires the teacher to create new lessons and learn the community's indigenous language. Straightforward prose and intentionally vague characterization present the story as a fable with encouraging lessons about the importance of cultural exchange and the power of nature. Intricate, digitally rendered spreads in shades of teal, orange, and green are filled with images that blend the natural and the legendary. Monica de los Reyes

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
A young teacher (unnamed in the text) sets off to her remote school assignment in the Amazon armed with determination and a precious box of books. Her students warn her of the coming "great serpent" and run out of class one day; she grudgingly follows them but thinks they need to learn that legends aren't real. When she watches the serpent of mud caused by heavy rains and a rising river sweep away the school and her books, she begins to understand why she should have taken the students seriously. Adults share with the teacher their practice of embroidering images of legends and creating cloth books, which allows them to replenish the school library and inspires the teacher to create new lessons and learn the community's indigenous language. Straightforward prose and intentionally vague characterization present the story as a fable with encouraging lessons about the importance of cultural exchange and the power of nature. Intricate, digitally rendered spreads in shades of teal, orange, and green are filled with images that blend the natural and the legendary.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)