Nicolás Guillén's "El gran zoo" (1967), illustrated by Fayad Jamís, was the first Hispanic bestiary to prominently feature humans in a space traditionally inhabited by beasts. Guillén's verses transform the bestiary from a didactic tool used for centuries to instruct and uniform society into a subversive text that openly denounces the…

In 1623, Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, a parish priest in Atenango, Mexico, was commissioned by his archbishop to record Nahua beliefs and healing practices for the purpose of denouncing their superstitions and demonic magic. His "Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions That Today Live Among the Indians Native to This New Spain," 1629…

Lists Spanish language books for children ranging from wordless picture books to adolescent love stories and translated popular novels. This year's list includes publishers from Latin America, in particular Mexico's Fondo de Cultura Economica. (MMU)

Lists and reviews 10 recently published books from Mexico and Spain that can assist Spanish-speaking students in understanding life science, sexuality, computers, and computer programming. Gives age levels and brief descriptions of each book. (CW)

A significant number of Hispanic children's books and juvenile short stories and novels produced in the last two decades reveal the social and cultural elements that affect the lives, traditions, and beliefs of young adults from Spanish-speaking countries. These books contain sociocultural realism, yet with a touch of the innocence and freshness…