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Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes

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National Hispanic Heritage Month is the period from September 15 to October 15 in the United States, when people recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the group's heritage and culture. I'm thrilled to start a new series on my blog showcasing notable Hispanics.

Biography

Today, I'm featuring José Martí, Cuba's National Hero. He was also a gifted writer, journalist, and poet. Inspired by the Cuban revolt and uprising he wrote his first poem at the age of 15. He was born on January 28, 1853, in Havana, to a Spanish father, Mariano Martí Navarro, and Leonor Pérez Cabrera, a native of the Canary Islands. He was an advocate for independence and found guilty of treason. Shackled and incarcerated his mother pleaded for his release. The Spanish agreed but he was never to return to Cuba. Living in exile, he lived in many countries finally settling in New York. In New York, he found the freedom to express himself freely and fight for Cuba's independence.
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Book Review
Disclosure: I received this book for purposes of a review. All opinions are mine, and I only review books that I truly believe in. This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase I will receive a small monetary compensation at no cost to you. Thank you!
Marti's Song for Freedom by author Emma Otheguy and illustrator Beatriz Vidal brings to life Marti's life. This is a bilingual picture children's book with thought-provoking and beautiful illustrations. With the turn of each page, you can read excerpts of his poems in both English and Spanish. The full-page illustrations are eye-catching and ties into the storyline of Marti's life: on his love for Cuba, his quest to end slavery and gain independence from Spain, to his imprisonment, and the harsh punishment and exile he had to face. In this picture book, you'll also read his of love for the Catskill mountains in New York, and how he still felt a calling for Cuba. He later returned to Cuba to fight in the Ten Years' War.

At the end of the book, you'll find an afterword, author's note, and side by side poem excerpts in both English and Spanish. This is a great addition to any one's homeschool or school library.

Age Range: 7 - 12 years

Grade Level: 3 - 7

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Lee & Low Books; Bilingual edition (July 17, 2017)

Language: English, Spanish

ISBN-10: 0892393750

ISBN-13: 978-0892393756

Enrichment Activity

A fun hands-on activity to enrich this book is to make a Cuban flag. After we read the book we looked up Cuba on the map, and made a pom-pom flag! The origin of the Cuban flag has two versions that you can read about here. This is an easy craft for kids of all ages. However, for little ones you'll need to help cut the board out first.

What will you need:

pom-poms in red, white and blue preferably the same size

ruler

pencil

cardboard, card stock, or cereal box (large side)

Once you've traced the lines have the kids glue the pom-poms on to the cardboard. Let dry, and voila! You have a Cuban flag!

José Martí Short Docu-Series

About the Author

Emma Otheguy is a children's book author and historian. For more information on her, you can visit her website here, or follow her on Twitter and on Facebook, too!

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National Hispanic Heritage Month is the period from September 15 to October 15 in the United States, when people recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the group's heritage and culture. I'm thrilled to start a new series on my blog showcasing notable Hispanics. Bio

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Timeline activity from Globe Trottin' Kids

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Martí's Song for Freedom / Martí y sus versos por la libertad by Emma Otheguy, illustrations by Beatriz Vidal

Learn about José Martí, often referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence," in this beautifully illustrated bilingual biography. Written in verse, including excerpts from Martí's own poetry, this picture book introduces children and adults to his inspiring life story and his important contributions toward winning Cuba's freedom from Spain.
Disclosure: We received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes; however, all opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. José Martí
As a young boy José loved his home island, Cuba. He loved spending time in nature where he felt free and peaceful. As he grew older, he became deeply affected by the practice of slavery he observed by rich landowners. Martí decided to use his voice and his pen to fight this injustice - actions which resulted in being exiled from his home country at the age of 17.

Martí devoted his life to traveling the world and speaking out about his wish for freedom and democracy for Cuba. He eventually returned to his home island to join the fight for independence from Spain. José Martí died in battle before he was able to see his dream of independence come true, but his memory still lives on today.
Cross-Curricular Connections
Geography: Spain, Havana, Cuba, Nueva York, Catskills

History: Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, slavery

Civics: independence, liberty, democracy

Language: Written in both English and Spanish, it is a great book for bilingual readers and for introducing a new language to non-Spanish speakers.

Writing: José Martí was also an influential writer. His collection of poems, Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses), describe his love of nature, Cuba, and freedom.

Music: Words from one of his poems was put to music and became a popular Cuban folk song, La Guantanamera.

Character traits: courage, perseverance, compassion, dedication to a cause
Free Book Activities
Visit the author's website to

Print story worksheets (available in English and Spanish). Activities include using facts from the story to solve a crossword puzzle; writing a letter describing something you're passionate about; writing your own poem modeled after the first stanza of a Martí poem; and creating your own newspaper modeled after one that Martí and his friends wrote called La Patria Libre (The Free Homeland).

Print poem cards with three bilingual samples of Martí's poetry.

Download a Teacher's Guide from publisher Lee & Low Books. Sections include: Pre-reading Focus Questions, Exploring the Book, Setting a Purpose for Reading, Discussion Questions (literal comprehension and higher level thinking), Reader's Response questions, ELL Teaching Activities, Interdisciplinary Activities (ELA, Geography, Social Studies, Science/STEM, Arts/Performing Arts, Home-School Connections

Download our FREE timeline printable to use after reading the story.

Purchase the book from Lee & Low Books, Amazon

Emma Otheguy is a children's book author and historian of Spain and colonial Latin America. Her picture book debut, a biography of famed Cuban poet and independence leader José Martí,titled Martí's Song for Freedom (Lee & Low Books), received five starred reviews and was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal and the New York Public Library. Otheguy lives in New York City with her husband.

Beatriz Vidal is an award-winning painter, illustrator, and teacher. Her work has appeared in well-known publications and has been featured on PBS programs and in numerous exhibitions around the world. Vidal divides her time between New York City and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

LEE & LOW BOOKS is the largest children's book publisher specializing in diversity and multiculturalism. Their motto, "about everyone, for everyone," is as urgent today as it was when they started in 1991. It is the company's goal to meet the need for stories that children of color can identify with and that all children can enjoy. The right book can foster empathy, dispel stereotypes, prompt discussion about race and ethnicity, and inspire children to imagine not only a world that includes them, but also a world where they are the heroes of their own stories.

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Martí's Song for Freedom: Book Review and Activities | Globe Trottin' Kids

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Martí's Song for Freedom / Martí y sus versos por la libertad by Emma Otheguy, illustrations by Beatriz Vidal Learn about José Martí , often referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence," in this beautifully illustrated bilingual biography.

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My author website

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It's been an exciting day for MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM, which today was named to the Kirkus Best Books of 2017 list and the New York Public Library's Best Books of 2017 list, in addition to School Library Journal's Best Books list last week. And it's been a frenetic day for me, crammed in between...

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Jose Marti's poems and letter (Lesson plan)

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This module provides a lesson plan for using José Martí's poems "Dos patrias" and "Yo soy un hombre sincero" along with a letter he wrote, Carta de Jose Marti a los presidentes de las organizaciones de cubanos exiliados en Florida (18 de marzo 1893) in the AP Spanish language or college-level Spanish class.

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¡Mira, Look!: Martí's Song for Freedom / Martí y sus versos por la libertad

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¡Buenos días! Today's book fits perfectly with both National Poetry Month and Earth Day. Martí's Song for Freedom / Martí y sus versos por la libertad, written by Emma Otheguy, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal and translated by Adriana Domínguez, is a picture book biography of the Cuban hero José Martí (1853-1985).

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Teachers' Guide

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Worksheets in Spanish

Persuasive letter writing, newspaper writing, poetry activity, and crossword puzzles

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Worksheets in English

Persuasive letter writing, newspaper writing, poetry activity, and crossword puzzles

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Cubans from around the world sing "Guantanamera"

Did you know that the lyrics to the song "Guantanamera" come from José Martí's seminal work of poetry, Versos sencillos?

Listen to this video with MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM in front of you. Can you match the lyrics in the song to the poetry excerpts in the book?

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Guantanamera | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

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I love seeing how teachers use MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM in their classrooms. Here Lee Heffernan shares the bumper stickers her classroom made after reading the book.

If you're a teacher who has used Martí, please do share with me!

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Tuesday: We started the day with a long "To Do" list on the board. We had so many things to finish up! The Thirdlanders did a great job writing up their analyses of their Snowman Stretch STEM project from yesterday. Thanks to the Johnsons for sharing so many great hands on science experiences with us this year. We also finished up our reflection letters about the Little Rock 9. We had math in the afternoon today. We solved word problems that involved the four operations. We finished reading Owls in the Family. We all enjoyed that book a lot.

Thursday: Today was World Read Aloud Day 2018. Our awesome librarian, Judith, AKA @JudyBookLady , arranged for several authors to Skype with classrooms. The Thirdlanders of Room 200 were lucky to get to talk with Emma Otheguy, the author of Marti's Song for Freedom. After we read this fabulous book last week, the Thirdlanders worked with partners to generate questions and important ideas that they wanted to talk more about. They also generated a list of connections to their own lives. Students have had relatives that fought in war and some of them have "warred" with people they know. Other connections included: the desire for independence, being homesick, being a writer, visiting New York City. I especially liked one Thirdlander's connection with Jose Marti, "I also want to change the world some day." We spent some time on Writer's Wednesday writing about our connections in our notebooks.

Whenever we read a book for our History Trail, we make bumper stickers about the book's message or ideas. After Ms. Otheguy read her book to us this morning, we read our bumper stickers to her. It was powerful to hear the Thirdlanders calling out their bumpers loudly and proudly-Fight with Song Not War, Be an Eagle Not a Snake and Independence for All People. I'm so happy that the Thirdlanders were able to have this amazing experience. I can't thank @JudyBookLady enough for arranging this for us. #LIBRARIANSROCK

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Tuesday: We started the day with a long "To Do" list on the board. We had so many things to finish up! The Thirdlanders did a great job writing up their analyses of their Snowman Stretch STEM project from yesterday. Thanks to the Johnsons for sharing so many great hands on science experiences with us this year.

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For Cubans and Cuban-Americans, this past summer has been, shall we say, eventful. (Whether you see these events as cause for celebration, condemnation, or deep ambivalence is another matter.) For me, however, the highlight of Summer 2015 was the six weeks I spent in Miami, teaching a course on José Martí at Florida International University. Here at last was the opportunity to bring Martí to the readership I'd envisioned for my recent Marti biography: Third-generation English-dominant Cuban-Americans and other Latina/os and Anglophone Caribbeans, who might have heard of Martí from relatives and word-of-mouth--or politicians--but had not read him.

I expected that the course's focus on Martí's writings on the U.S. and evolving relationship with his adopted country in the late 19th century, and the prominence of U.S.-Cuba relations in the news, would capture my students' interest. But I was more than surprised at the level of engagement and enthusiasm they brought to class from the very first day.

Partly due to the brevity of that summer course, and all the material we covered--Martí's love of North American writers such as Emerson, Whitman, and Helen Hunt Jackson (whose novel Ramona he translated into Spanish), his brilliant Gilded Age journalism, his complex relation with U.S. politics and culture--we never talked about Martí's relationship to them, 20-something men and women in the 21st century. This blog post is my way of trying to compensate for that absence, to share what I never got around to saying in the classroom.

My FIU students--and you millennials reading this--may know what makes Martí intellectually important, academically relevant, and so on. But what you maybe don't quite grasp--what I didn't have time or maybe the skill to give my summer students--is what José Julian Martí y Pérez, a 19th-century writer and revolutionary, might mean to you in 2015. You know, better than your professors do, that it's often the intangible, non-academic stuff that so often "hooks" us on a particular writer--their personal quirks, life experiences, not only the material conditions that produced them and their work but the way that time and place translate into a reader's here and now.

So here's a preliminary and very personal list of what I think you can learn from your old Tío Pepe. In compiling this list, I've stuck to personal qualities and choices that Martí made that seem to translate well into the 21st century. Here goes:

1) It doesn't matter where you come from.
Martí was born into a working-class Cuban household, the son of a Spanish soldier. His mother also hailed from a military family loyal to the Spanish government then colonizing the island. A combination of bad financial decisions, his father's ailing health, and Cuba's own political instability and economic decline plunged the Martís into poverty shortly after his birth in 1853. The family had no history of academic achievement, or of the kind of political activism and organizing that defined their son's life. The odds against someone of Martí's origins and background rising to the forefront of a political movement, or becoming one of the greatest writers and thinkers of his time, were staggering.

No matter what you perceive as your outward limitations--lack of money or opportunity, a difficult family life, geographical remoteness, lack of access to like-minded people or culture--I promise you don't have a bigger hole to climb out of than Martí did. But climb he did. And so can you.

2) Once you find your purpose in life, stick to it.
His obvious intellectual abilities aside--and his brilliance is pretty well undeniable--Martí's greatest asset was arguably his persistence and utter single-mindedness in pursuit of the things that mattered to him. He persevered in the face of obstacles that would destroy most of us: Sentenced to prison and hard labor at 16, he was twice deported from Cuba, the first time before turning 18. Martí spent the next decade as a virtual nomad, living in four different countries on two continents and being expelled or forced out of three of them. He finally settled in New York City in 1881, spending his last 15 years as an exile, in his words "without a country, but without a master." It was from New York, separated from his family and loved ones, that Martí built the revolution that eventually liberated his people from centuries of economic, cultural, and spiritual slavery. He survived years of persecution both political and literal--the reports of Spanish spies and Pinkerton agents assigned to follow his every move fill volumes--and at least one assassination attempt. The decades of stress and adversity wore down what was already a less-than-robust constitution; well before his death at 42, Martí was a physical wreck suffering from a constellation of ailments large and small. None of it stopped him.

More importantly for you, as a young man Martí overcame what was in many ways the most difficult obstacle of all: the disapproval and at times vehement opposition of his family. His loyalist Spanish father was outraged by the teenage Pepe's nascent political activism for a free Cuba. His mother lived in mortal fear (correctly so) that her son's activities would lead him to great suffering. Even the mentor who first inspired and encouraged young Pepe begged him to relent. His work for Cuba later cost him his marriage and relationship with his only son, when his wife, tired of the toils and burdens of the revolutionary life, left New York for good and took their child with her. Through it all, Martí stuck with his inner voice, the political and philosophical compass from which he almost never veered.

Sometimes the people who love you the most and want the best for you--your parents and mentors, your significant other, your best friend--are just wrong. Once you know what's best for you, once you grasp indisputably your path in life and where it may lead, let no one lead you from it.

3) Read. A lot.
Really, this comes down to intellectual curiosity. It's not just about reading books, though Martí did plenty of that--from Shakespeare and Hugo in his youth to Emerson and Whitman, Longfellow and Alcott later on--but about engaging everything, from art to science to sports and everything in between. As the Table of Contents of Martí's Selected Writings amply demonstrates, the sheer breadth of Martí's journalism was staggering; from children's games to amusement parks ("Coney Island"), from political trials and boxing matches to modern art and the Brooklyn Bridge, and the plight of the poor, and high-society balls. He was interested in, and wrote about, just about everything that crossed his path. If Martí were alive today, you better believe he'd be blogging and tweeting and Instagramming, writing about Obama and Raúl Castro but also about Miley Cyrus and A-Rod and Caitlyn Jenner and Super Smash Bros.

Beyond his (not entirely undeserved) image as a dour, somewhat morbid and single-minded person, Martí was a man who loved life, and who embraced the world in all its wonders and horrors. Nothing went over his head, but nothing was beneath his attention either. You should be that way too.

4) Invite others--even your enemies--to share your vision, so it can be their vision too.
In Martí's early years, his single-mindedness got him into a fair amount of trouble (see #2 above). Despite his unswerving dedication to Cuba's liberation, by the time he was a little more than 30 Martí had alienated almost everyone who could help him achieve it. But he soon transformed himself into a master coalition-builder, creating a political and fundraising juggernaut out of what had for decades been a fractious exile community long hindered by backbiting and ideological bickering. He achieved this not by deriding or humiliating his enemies but by using their common goal--the liberation of Cuba--as the ground for a democratic organization in which everyone had a stake and a voice. By the end of his life, Martí had turned lifelong enemies into some of his most loyal and ardent supporters. His genius in articulating a vision of freedom and democracy for Cuba would have come to nothing without his ability to also allow others to see themselves in it and make it their own. As Martí once wrote about the Brooklyn Bridge: "Better to bring cities together than to cleave human chests."

Nothing on this little list is explicitly or narrowly political. Part of that is because the politics and ideological battles of Martí's day were quite different from today's (although the stakes may strike some as being quite similar). But really it's because I believe that Martí is larger and greater than the various ideological boxes into which readers have been trying to stuff him for over a century now, and into which your elders have been trying to get you to stuff him. No matter our individual political leanings, we can all learn from Martí's example, how he lived and what he lived for. We may not all be poets or revolutionaries, but we can all resolve to lead more fulfilling, authentic lives. For the 30 or so students I had the pleasure of teaching this summer, I am hopeful that their time spent with José Martí will help on that journey.

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What My Millennial Students Can Learn from José Martí

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For Cubans and Cuban-Americans, this past summer has been, shall we say, eventful. (Whether you see these events as cause for celebration, condemnation, or deep ambivalence is another matter.) For me, however, the highlight of Summer 2015 was the six weeks I spent in Miami, teaching a course on José Martí at Florida International University.

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Author visit brochure

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StoryMakers with Emma Otheguy

On this episode of StoryMakers, author Emma Otheguy tells us about MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM! Be ready to learn some history about Cuba and sing along with Emma and Rocco!

Do you notice something about the people in the illustration of New York City? Who are they overlooking? Tell us in the comment section below!

LIKE IT? PIN IT!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Written by Emma Otheguy; Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal
A bilingual biography of José Martí, who dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, the abolishment of slavery, political independence for Cuba, and intellectual freedom. Written in verse with excerpts from Martí's seminal work, Versos sencillos.

ABOUT Emma Otheguy

Emma Otheguy is the author of the bilingual picture book Martí's Song for Freedom (Lee & Low, 2017) about Cuban poet and national hero José Martí, as well as the forthcoming Pope Francis: Builder of Bridges (Bloomsbury, 2018) and Silver Meadows Summer (Knopf, 2019). Martí's Song for Freedom received five starred reviews, from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Martí was also named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the New York Public Library. Otheguy's short story for children "Fairies in Town" was awarded Magazine Merit Honors by SCBWI, and her scholarly article "Sermonizing in New York: The Children's Magazines of Mary Mapes Dodge and José Martí" appeared in Ethics in Children's Literature (Ashgate, 2014).

CONNECT WITH Emma
Website | Twitter

CONNECT WITH KidLit TV
Facebook Group | Facebook Page | Instagram | Newsletter | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube

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StoryMakers with Emma Otheguy - KidLit TV

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On this episode of StoryMakers, author Emma Otheguy tells us about MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM! Be ready to learn some history about Cuba and sing along with Emma and Rocco! Do you notice something about the people in the illustration of New York City? Who are they overlooking?