From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 5?An alphabet book with exceptional illustrations and excellent poetry that gives voice to the experience of Hispanic agricultural workers. Each letter is matched with a Spanish word (for example, "Arboles" for "A") and accompanied by a poem in both Spanish and English that describes how the plant, fruit, vegetable, person, or feeling functions in the lives of these workers. Zubizarreta's English translations are informed and graceful, but predictably cannot match the Spanish originals in rhythm, assonance, or meter. Silva's vibrant, double-page, gouache illustrations are reminiscent of the artwork of Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. The colors are brilliant, and the scope has a certain larger-than-life sense to it. This is a book that begs to be read aloud to all students, whether they are Spanish speaking or not. The sound of the poems will draw them in. The touching elegy for Cesar Chavez successfully imparts the impact of a heroic man on his people. Whether used to show the plight of migrant workers or the pride Hispanic laborers feel in their heritage, this is an important book.?Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In her selec­tion of bilin­gual books for read­ing to chil­dren, librar­ian Ana-Elba Pavon said of this beau­ti­ful, verse abecedario: it is “a trib­ute to work­ing in the fields. A col­lec­tion of poems, it includes Cesar Chavez, indi­vid­ual fruits and veg­eta­bles, and other Latino sym­bols. Use the poem under the let­ter “O” for “Orgullo” or “Pride” as a chant with your audi­ence. Have them repeat each verse of the poem after you read it.” Absolutely!

Gath­er­ing the Sun: An Alpha­bet in Span­ish and Eng­lish by the pro­lific author Alma Flor Ada is by def­i­n­i­tion an alpha­bet book, but is a trib­ute to work­ing in the fields. A col­lec­tion of poems, it includes Cesar Chavez, indi­vid­ual fruits and veg­eta­bles, and other Latino sym­bols. Use the poem under the let­ter “O” for “Orgullo” or “Pride” as a chant with your audi­ence. Have them repeat each verse of the poem after you read it.– Mar­jorie Coughlan

Tap­ping into a rich cul­tural his­tory of peo­ple work­ing the land and har­vest­ing its bounty, Gath­er­ing the Sun is bril­liantly illus­trated, a delight­ful adven­ture into the world of lan­guage and art, of “sim­ple words and sun-drenched paint­ings.” More than just an alpha­bet book, it teaches chil­dren the basics of lan­guage in the con­text of fam­ily and tradition.

The illus­trated alpha­bet is Span­ish, text in both Span­ish and Eng­lish: “arboles (trees), “the com­pan­ions of my child­hood”; duraznos (peaches), “like a gen­tle caress in the palm of my hand”; tomates (toma­toes), “red tomato in the kitchen, in the lit­tle tacos my god­mother loves to make”; zana­ho­ria (car­rot), “The car­rot hides beneath the earth. After all, she knows the sun’s fiery color by heart.”

Through the text by Alma Flor Ada and won­der­ful art of Simon Silva, begin­ning read­ers explore orchards and fields beside those who plant and nur­ture the crops, the book ded­i­cated to the liv­ing mem­ory of César Chávez: “Your exam­ple and your words sprout anew in the field rows as seedlings of quiet hope.”

In a joy­ful cel­e­bra­tion of till­ing, toil­ing and the lan­guage of nature’s bounty, the text is bilin­gual, with par­tic­u­lar atten­tion to the har­mony of words and the images wrought from the earth’s palette, the cycle of growth and those who labor to carry their fruits from field to kitchen, from the hands that tend the plants to those who pre­pare the spicy and tex­tured foods that grace the tables of grate­ful fam­i­lies: “In the field row lies a seed, all tucked in like a baby in the crib.”

Gath­er­ing the Sun is noth­ing less than stun­ning, sat­u­rated with color and the shared dig­nity of hard work, a reflec­tion of the author and illustrator’s appre­ci­a­tion for all aspects of growth, from field to heart to spirit, acknowl­edg­ing “honor and pride, fam­ily and friends, his­tory and her­itage, and… the bounty of the har­vest.“ –Luan Gaines/2006 for Curled Up with a Good Kid’s Book

From Booklist
Ages 5-8. Using the Spanish alphabet as a template, Ada has written 27 poems that celebrate both the bounty of the harvest and the Mexican heritage of the farmworkers and their families. The poems, presented in both Spanish and English, are short and simple bursts of flavor: "Árboles/Trees," "Betabel/Beet," "César Chávez," etc. Silva's sun-drenched gouache paintings are robust, with images sculpted in paint. Brimming with respect and pride, the book, with its mythic vision of the migrant farm worker, will add much to any unit on farming or Mexican American heritage. Annie Ayres