[HBKL]

Anyone have any suggestions for reading up on Guatemalan culture, customs, climate...everything??

Thanks in advance!

[MicheleB]

I just finished "I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala" by Rigoberta Menchu. The one I just started is "Guatemala Journey" by Stephen Connely. I recommend both of them.


My son just received a book from his grandparents called "Guatemala ABC's". It is a great kids book!

[oakesdan]

Check out lonelyplanet.com "Guatemala" ISBN 174059293x

We got it through Amazon.com. (very good price) It has alot of maps, pictures and history of many of the villages and cities all around Guatemala. It even has some Spanish and Mayan words and phrases in the back. Great book.

We stayed at a B&B in Antigua and the owners had a copy there. I think it is a must have book.

[Guatemomtobe]

I have a huge pile of books on my living room floor from the library right now so I'm glad you posted so I can get them listed for my own future reference because I know I won't get them all read before I have to take them back to the library. Many of them are children's books but really do capture the culture so well. I'm throwing in some miscellaneous Spanish nursery rhyme books that I found also because I want my little one to be able to keep some of the culture of her native land & language.

I am also reading I, Rigoberto Menchu...and highly recommend it. Sad but real.

"The Girl from Chimel" by Rigoberto Menchu (children's version of her biography.

"Barrilete, a Kite for the Day of the Dead" by Elisa Amado & Joya Hairs

"Children of Guatemala" by Jules Hermes

"Hello Guatemala" by Ruth Karen

"Guatemala Backstrap Weaving" by Norbert Sperlich & Elizabeth Katz Sperlich

"Song of the Chirimia, a Guatemalan Folktale" by Jane Anne Volkmer

"Mama & Papa Have a Store" by Amelia Lau Carling (beautifully illustrated, took me back in time to my time in Guatemala City).

"Abuela's Weave" by Omar S Castaneda

"Sawdust Carpets" by Amelia Lau Carling

"The Most Beautiful Place in the World" by Ann Cameron

"Los Pollitos dicen/The Baby Chicks Sing" by Nancy Abraham Hall & Jill Syverson-Stork (spanish nursery rhymes with Spanish & English)

"Pio Peep" Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes" by Alma For Ada & F Isabel Campoy (has Spanish & English)

"Arrorro, mi nino" Latino Lullabies & Gentle Games" by Lulu Delacre

These are some adult & youth fiction set in Guatemala:

"Colibri" by Ann Cameron

"Imagining Isabel" by Omar S Castaneda

"The Secret of the Sacred Lake" by Suzanne de Borhegyi

"When I was Elena" by Ellen Urbani Hilterbrand (non fiction book of a Peace Corp volunteers experience in Guatemala).

As I said, I got all of these at the library. I know I will buy some of the children's books for my own collection but it was nice to be able to look before I buy.

Enjoy!
Susan

[cbpwife]

I am almost finished with Guatemalan Journey and don't really like it - it is very, very dark. Perhaps it was just not what I expected.

I will definitly print off the list of children's books. Thanks!

[Quesita]

Wow Susan! What a list!!!!! That should be a sticky!!!!

I would like to add the Popul Vu to the list. It is the Mayan creation story. It was translated into Spanish from Quiche (one of the Mayan languages or dialects) hundreds of years ago, and you should be able to order an English translation through a bookstore or online.

So many of us studied a Eurocentric ancient history, (Greece, Rome, etc.) and are completely unaware of the marvelous ancient worlds that existed in this hemisphere. The ancient Mayans, who built tremendous cities and excelled in science and art and trade, were polytheistic, and blended their understanding of the world into their stories. The Popul Vu is so fascinating in so many ways. One of the things that stands out to me is that according to the story, the sun and the north star are brothers (or some other sort of blood relatives). They understood that the sun was just a star, like all of the other stars, at a time when my ancestors believed the sun was the center of the universe!!!

Ok... I'm rambling. If anyone reads it and would like to start a discussion thread, I would love to participate!

[drasusi]

"Paradise in Ashes" by Beatriz Manz....non-fiction; an anthropologist's account of an indigenous village and what happens to its people over twenty-five years. Not an easy or happy read, but some amazing courage displayed...if intrigued by "I, Rigoberta...." follow-up with this one.

[Guatemomtobe]

Thanks for another one to add to my list drasusi.

I do have Popol Vuh somewhere in my collection it just wasn't in the stacks in my living room right now. I don't know if I ever finished reading it (bought it 15 years ago in Antigua).

[carrie2adopt]

What a great thread!! Thank you...I will be looking up these books too.

[Disneycrazed]

Originally Posted by oakesdan

Check out lonelyplanet.com "Guatemala" ISBN 174059293x

We got it through Amazon.com. (very good price) It has alot of maps, pictures and history of many of the villages and cities all around Guatemala. It even has some Spanish and Mayan words and phrases in the back. Great book.

We stayed at a B&B in Antigua and the owners had a copy there. I think it is a must have book.

We also have enjoyed looking at this book