I need your help! This year I will be teaching an enrichment course based on monarch butterflies. One of my focuses will be the Meso-American cultures in central Mexico, where the monarchs migrate. I am looking for great kid’s books(picture book to YA)about Aztecs, Mayans,Purepechua, etc. In other words, I need fiction or non-fiction books about Meso-American cultures in Mexico. So far I have found the following, but I need more!
- Aztec: The Goldsmith’s Daughter
- Tenochtitlan (Digging for the Past)
- Sungods and Sacrifice: Lost World of the Aztecs, Inca and Maya
- The Aztecs: Life in Tenochtitlan (Life in Ancient Civilizations)
- Graphic Myths and Legends: the Smoking Mountain: The Story of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl: an Aztec Legend (Graphic Universe)
- Aztecs: The Fall of the Aztec Capital (DK Discoveries)
- Aztec, Inca, and Maya (DK Eyewitness Books)
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice!
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer!: Fortunes You’d Rather Not Tell
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Inca Mummy!: A One-Way Journey You’d Rather Not Make
- Ghost Wings
- Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book
- Day of the Dead
- Uncle Monarch And the Day of the Dead
I am interested in books that look at these cultures in the past and now. I am especially looking for some chapter books/novels. Any ideas?
Filed under: mentor texts, monarch butterflies, monarchs | Tagged: Aztecs, Day of the Dead, Mayans, michoacan, Purepechua |
The Reading Zone 
Definitely check out Laura Resau’s What the Moon Saw and Red Glass (especially the first, for your purposes)–both YA fiction.
Awesome! Thanks so much, Wendy!
Right now my books are boxed up waiting for my new classroom to be ready. Once I start unpacking I will try to remember to post the titles that I have that fit. When I looked for resources for my own units, it seemed like the Purépecha books were the hardest to find. Most of my resources are in Spanish though since we are in a dual immersion setting and can pull from both languages.
Since I know you have mentioned that there are some Twilight saga fans in your class, one of the actors that will be in the New Moon wolf pack is Purépecha. My students thought that was a fun link.
Oh, wow! That’s awesome information- thanks!
Tree Girl, by Ben Mikaelsen – I haven’t read it, but it is on my list to read and looks interesting
Heart of a Jaguar, by Talbert – interesting YA novel, brought me into village life in Mayan culture – out of print, but at many libraries
good luck!
Pam Munoz Ryan has a cute book called Nacho and Lolita where these birds migrating to south america! it is so cute.
Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow by James Rollins. This first book in the series is centered around the Mayan culture especially focusing on the Mayan calendar. Not sure if it would be what you are looking for but still a GREAT read!
I can strongly recommend Isabel’s House of Butterflies by Tony Johnston