Collection of Hispanic Books

(By Karen Vigil and Pablo Carlos Mora, Pueblo Chieftain) December 15, 2005 —

Patricia Santos Marcantonio

‘Ridin’ in the Hood’ a Hispanic fairy tale

As a little girl, she never found herself in the fairy-tale stories she loved.

A half-century later, former Puebloan Patricia Santos Marcantonio has bridged the gap for herself and others.

She's spun her own fairy tales.

The result is her first book: "Red Ridin' in the Hood and Other Cuentos," a charming collection of children's stories with illustrations by Brazilian Renato Alarcao.

Marcantonio says her family inspired her to become a writer and a friend motivated her to write the book with the question, "How about Hispanic fairy tales?”

Marcantonio says the challenge was to "break down these old familiar fairy tales and what they're really about," then meld the value-driven stories with Mexican culture.

A 1972 South High grad and a mass communications graduate of the University of Southern Colorado, Marcantonio is a community editor for The Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho. "Red Ridin' in the Hood and Other Cuentos" was published in May by New York publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. At $16, the book is available at The Bookery and Barnes & Noble.

Other offerings with a Hispanic flavor are:

“Mexican Cookbook,” by Erna Ferguson, University of New Mexico Press (unmpress.com)

First published in 1934, “Mexican Cookbook” has sold more copies than any other “native” cookbook in the Southwest, according to the University of New Mexico Press, the book’s publisher.

Among the many inviting recipes included are green chili sandwiches, a lamb-based cold soup and sweet rice, all near and dear to New Mexico households. Ferguson, who died in 1964, stressed the use of foods that did not require preservation, in keeping with traditional methods.

Ferguson also is credited with sparking widespread interest in the American Southwest with her Indian Detours business, which along with Off the Beaten Path, were chauffeured and guided motorcar tours that swept people away from the familiarity of the train into remote places of New Mexico and Arizona.

"Saints and Sinners: A Guide to New Mexico’s Most Popular Saints,” by Ana Pacheco, La Herencia Press (www.herencia.com)

“Saints and Sinners” was written “to remind us of the importance that the saints, and the Roman Catholic calendar, have had in New Mexico for more than 400 years,” according to Ana Pacheco, publisher of the popular New Mexico quarterly La Herencia (The Heritage).

The calendar-style book features saints and holy days, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day is Dec. 12, and the Holy Family, whose feast day is Dec. 30. The illustrations accompanying the short text are sometimes credited if the artist is known, and the book features profiles of many artists.

“New Mexico: Images of a Land & Its People,” photographs by Lucian Niemeyer, essay by Art Gomez, University of New Mexico Press (unmpress.com)

More than 150 photographs by Lucian Niemeyer capturing images from across New Mexico are featured in this decorative coffee-table book. The essay describing the photographs was written by Art Gomez, a historian with the National Park Service.

Among the spectacular photos are Catholic missions, Pueblo ruins, traditional folk art and Carlsbad Caverns.

“The diversity of our landscape is matched only by the diversity of our people,” writes New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in a foreword to the book.

“The Santero’s Miracle,” by Rudolfo Anaya, University of New Mexico Press (unmpress.com)

Many readers of Chicano literature keep a warm place in their hearts for “Bless Me, Ultima,” Rudolfo Anaya’s 1972 coming-of-age novel. The prize-winning book follows the adventures of Tony Marez, a young boy living with his family in Guadalupe, N.M., in the 1940s. Anaya has struck again with “The Santero’s Miracle," a Christmas tale woven with the same magic that has enchanted his legions of fans.

Amy Cordova’s illustrations and Enrique Lamadrid’s translation make the book accessible to readers of many backgrounds.