Let's Work: Mexican Folk Art Trabajos in English and Spanish

A butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker...what people do has always made little kids curious.

Cynthia Weill scores again with an early concept book that bring every kind of job to life, including the work of the dedicated palm weavers of Flavio Gallardo's workshop, whose miniature palm weavings illustrate this playful book, teaching children words for work in two languages. The weavers live in the village of Chigmecatitlán in the Mixteca part of the Mexican state of Puebla. With tremendous skill and patience, the artisans of this region practice palm weaving, a craft which came to Mexico even before the arrival of the Spanish in the early 15th century. Imagine being able to hold all of the illustrations in one book in the palms of your hands. You can do that with the tiny weavings in Let's Work! Most pieces are no larger than a dime!

Cynthia Weill triunfa una vez más con un libro de primeros conceptos que trae a toda clase de trabajo a vida, incluyendo el trabajo de los tejedores de palmas del taller de Flavio Gallardo, cuyas tejidas de palma ilustran este alegre libro, enseñándole palabras sobre el trabajo a niños, en dos idiomas. Los tejedores viven en el pueblo de Chigmecatitlán en la parte Mixteca del pueblo mexicano de Puebla. Con estupenda habilidad y paciencia, los artesanos de esta región practican el tejido de palmas, un arte que vino a México antes que siquiera vinieran los españoles en el siglo 15. Imagina poder tener en tus manos todas las ilustraciones, en un solo libro. Puedes hacer esto con los tejidos minúsculos en Vamos a Trabajar! La gran parte de las piezas no son más grande que una moneda!

Cynthia Weill's fascination with the crafts of Oaxaca began while she was working in Mexico as a Fulbright exchange teacher. She has published several books in the First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art series, which features different folk art of Oaxaca. Many of the figures showcased in this series are now part of the permanent Mesoamerican Anthropology collections at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Cindy lives in New York City and online at cynthiaweill.net.