Pura Belpre Award 2022 by Ariana Shue

Excellence of presentation for an intended child audience

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 22:43:03 UTC

This story is clearly intended for a child audience. The illustrations aid in understanding the text, the Spanish phrases are followed by English to help with learning the words, and there are few words on each page. For example, when the characters finally get to the bridge the illustration is of everyone trying to cross it. Underneath the illustration there are words such as "they cross by car, by truck, on foot, and by skateboard." There is an image of all of these ways of transit with the words.

The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media (i.e., digital, sound or film equipment) for its enjoyment.

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 22:43:43 UTC

Vamos! Let's Cross the Bridge is a story that is thoroughly enjoyed for being a book, not needed to be made into a digital or film. Reading this story not only is interesting because of the illustrations, but also because of the amount of Spanish you can learn without thinking you are learning it.

The committee should keep in mind that the award is for both distinguished illustrations in picture book and for excellence of pictorial presentation for children, and for the positive portrayal of the Latino cultural heritage.

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 22:44:06 UTC

This story is based on two characters in a truck, who are trying to get to a celebration. In order to get to this celebration, they need to cross a bridge. Each illustration in this story played a huge role in understanding the text. The Latino cultural heritage was also very positively portrayed. For example, the book is taken place in Rio and the illustrations show that. The instruments and decorations on the pages also aid in the cultural significance of the book.

Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 22:44:36 UTC

Each page of this story is able to stand without words due to the amazing illustrations. While the main point of the words on the pages is to help understand Spanish, readers would be able to figure out the Spanish phrases without the English subtitles by only looking at the illustrations.

Citation

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 23:12:26 UTC

Third, R. (2021). Vamos! Let's Cross the Bridge. Ill. by Bay, E. MI: Capstone Young Readers. NY: HarperCollins.

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-07 23:15:06 UTC

Format (pg 54/55)

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-08 00:05:54 UTC

The end of this story is a glossary of all of the Spanish words used in the story. For example, the page starts with "Aguila-Eagle, Autobus-Bus, Avion-Plane", etc. The story also ends with an authors note about his life from a young boy until now. His note explains the meaning of "crossing the bridge" as that is what he did as a child to visit family, work, play, and shop.

The composition/layout of the pictures in this book had an important impact on the movement of the story. The layout of the pictures changed page to page from a singular large image to one main image and multiple small illustration on the same page. Incorporating smaller illustrations with larger gives more meaning to different aspects of the text. For example, in the story the main illustration is showing the characters in the car driving while in the corner there are all the items on the list that is being talked about. The text says "I have pinata, cakes, rockets, presents..." and so the illustrations are of a pinata, cake, rocket, and a present.

Elements of Design

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-08 00:58:54 UTC

Color: The choice of color in this story was dependent on the theme of a fox and chicken crossing the bridge to enjoy a celebration. The illustrator depicts the characters as happy through the bright and vibrant yellows, pinks, greens, reds, purple, and oranges.

Artistic Medium

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-08 01:05:49 UTC

The mediums used in this story are paints, pen, and ink. The gentle translucence of the ink frames and the dark outline of each character aids in the display of happy characters excited to get to a big celebration. This technique stays the same throughout the story and help to bring the text to life. (feature 3.2, pg 59)

Illustrations

arianaashue21_ — 2023-10-08 01:18:35 UTC

The illustrations give meaning to the text by displaying exactly what is written. In this story, the illustrations could be the only thing on the page and you would be able to understand what is happening. The pictures aid in describing the sequence of events and give the text the emotion that it lacked. This story also has a plethora of Spanish phrases. The illustrations help to aid in the meaning of those phrases which allows for a better learning experience.