Even though only one day a year is designated as Earth Day and only one is designated as El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, parents and educators know that books, reading, and our planet’s resources should be celebrated every day. On this Earth Day, read Pat Mora’s The Desert Is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre to combine celebrating the Earth with reading to your children!

The first picture book ever published by Arte Público Press’  imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, was Pat Mora’s The Desert Is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre. Based on a poem Pat wrote years ago, The Desert Is My Mother “celebrates a child’s connection with her desert home … [she] is fostered by the joy and awe of lonely places.” (Booklist, 1994) Instead of portraying the desert as an empty expanse of land, the desert is depicted as a giver of comfort, spirit, sustenance, and beauty.

Since its initial publication in a hardcover edition, Desert is My Mother has been included in numerous textbooks for children and has been released in a paperback edition and in an audio book format by Lorito Books. Hundreds of thousands of children have enjoyed the book’s poetic language while learning about the environment. In this downloadable teacher’s guide, teachers are provided with strategies and activities to support the acquisition of literacy skills and reading comprehension.

So on Earth Day, help a child discover the beauty of words and the world around them. In the desert, in the forest, at sea … every day is Children’s Day/Book Day!

For information on a special Día discount for this and other bilingual children’s books, click here.

Thanks to our guest blogger Marina Tristán, Assistant Director at Arte Público Press.