Book description
Recent health scares such as H1N1 influenza have exposed children to
frightening information that can be difficult to process. This
thoughtful bilingual book helps them understand the abstract concept
of largescale sickness and appreciate the role children play in the
health of their community. It introduces young readers to a
fascinating aspect of southwest history, and invites discussion of
folk medicine and science, while also addressing children's
curiosities and fears.
Recounting the two most deadly epidemics to strike the
Southwest-smallpox in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and
influenza during World War I-this beautifully illustrated narrative
reveals that with tragedy comes heroism, as demonstrated by the
children who bravely transported the smallpox vaccine from Mexico's
interior to New Mexico in 1805. Through the eyes of the protagonist
José Amado “Amadito” Domínguez-a real child of the flu epidemic era
who would later become Taos County's first nuevomexicano
physician-folklorist Lamadrid weaves together culture, history,
mortality, and hope into a life-affirming lesson.
Enrique R. Lamadrid is a literary folklorist and cultural historian
in the University of New Mexico's Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
In 2005, he was awarded the Américo Paredes Prize by the American
Folklore Society in recognition of his work as a cultural activist. Amy
Cordova lives in Taos, New Mexico, and is a longtime artist and
educator. She has illustrated many children's books and has won several
awards for illustration, including the ALA Pura Belpró Award.
