The world is filled with bold, beautiful colors, if only you know where to find them. Little Maya finds purple and yellow in the flowers in her garden, red in her swing set, and black in her Papa's shiny hair. Mud is squishy, cool, and brown. Orange marigolds glow like the sun. Look around you. Where are the colors in your world?
"My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo" is Maya Christina Gonzalez's wonder-filled exploration of the colors and textures that make up the everyday environment of a small child. This new board book format of the award-winning story is perfect for tiny hands and was developed with the help of early childhood educators. The simple, streamlined text introduces rich vocabulary words alongside vibrant acrylic illustrations. Little Maya will draw the littlest readers in to her world, and will encourage them to make connections between the colors on the page and the world around them.

One night, young Amada overhears her parents whisper of moving from Mexico to the other side of the border--to Los Angeles, where greater opportunity awaits. As she and her family make their journey north, Amada records her fears, hopes, and dreams for their lives in the United States in her diary. How can she leave her best friend behind? What if she can't learn English? What if her family never returns to Mexico? From Juarez to Mexicali to Tijuana to Los Angeles, Amada learns that with her family's love and her belief in herself, she can make any journey and weather any change--here, there, anywhere.

Maya longs to find brilliant, beautiful color in her world. But when the wind blows, desert sand covers everything, and turns her whole neighborhood the color of dust.

With the help of a feathered friend, Maya searches high and low to find the colors in her world. And she does in the vibrant purple of her Mama's flowers, the juicy green of a prickly cactus, the hot pink clouds at sunset, and the shiny black of her Papi's hair.

As they follow Maya's search for all the colors of the rainbow, little readers will be inspired to look around and ask themselves, where can I find the colors in my world?

Following the success of their award-winning book of spring poems, Laughing Tomatoes, and their acclaimed collection of summer poems, From the Bellybutton of the Moon, poet Francisco Alarcon and artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invite us to experience fall in Los Angeles-the City of Angels-where dreams can come true. In the poet's whimsical imagination, mariachis play like angels, angels ride bikes, and the earth dances the cha-cha-cha. Alarcon celebrates the simple joys and trials of everyday life: a visit to the outdoor market, the arrival of the ice cream vendor, the first day of school. He honors his family and pays tribute to his mother, who taught him that with hard work and education he could realize his dreams. Maya Christina Gonzalez's spirited images perfectly complement each poem, bringing to life the people and places in Alarcon's childhood.

CLAIMING FACE curriculum is designed to support everyone, but especially children to engage with creativity in order to know their selves and be empowered to live their best lives. It is not about art, although art is made. It is about process. It is about life. After 15 years working with students and educators, award-winning multicultural children's book artist, author and educator, Maya Christina Gonzalez brings her CLAIMING FACE curriculum into singular focus. Through exploration of the philosophy and its development, imagination exercises and questions, resource materials for art and literacy, as well as an entire school year of self-portrait projects, Maya lays out a feast of creative involvement to support first the educator and then the student in the classroom. This is an excellent tool to support higher thinking, strong self esteem, life skills, cultural diversity, ESL education and a lifelong connection to creativity.