{"id":5629,"date":"2022-07-17T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T06:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5629"},"modified":"2022-07-16T08:59:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T14:59:12","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-803-featuring-mariana-chiesa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5629","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #803: Featuring Mariana Chiesa"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
 

\nOriginally published in Argentina in 2018 and translated into English by Elisa Amado<\/a><\/strong>, Suniyay Moreno’s<\/a><\/strong> The Youngest Sister<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (Greystone Kids, May 2022), illustrated by Mariana Chiesa<\/a><\/strong>, brings readers a day in the life of a Quechua girl who lives in a mountain village in Argentina: “In the mountains, far from Vaca Hua\u00f1una, on the other side of the river, the mum, the five sisters, the seven cousins, and the two children of Swallow the peon had slept in the hut that night.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Picu is the youngest of the children (which means she is never given “the important jobs”) and in the morning is sent to secure the flavor bone from Do\u00f1a Ciriaca; this will be used to bring flavor to their soup. Though she is to be home before noon in this place where no one measures time with a clock but relies on “the length of the shadows,” she returns late. And that’s because she is an eager, curious child who gets distracted on the way back: she climbs a white carob tree; wonders who will get the bone as a prize and recalls family memories and games played with her cousins; and runs through cactuses after a cloud of pilu-pintu butterflies. After sneaking back to her home, she manages to turn things around without being punished for being late \u2014 and successfully manages to win the flavor bone. <\/p>\n

Moreno writes the text, as noted in the book’s close, as if someone in the Argentinean Quechua community were speaking it. Writes Amado, the translation “aims to respect the very special voice in which the story is told.” A glossary is included. Earlier in the story, Do\u00f1a Ciriaca tells Picu: “Don’t delay on the hillside, because the Sachajoy is about.” In the closing glossary, we read that this is a guardian of the woodland. And if you remember the book’s opening line, shared above, we also read in the glossary that a peon is a “hired hand.” <\/p>\n

Chiesa \u2014 this is her first book to be translated into English \u2014 conveys light and shadow especially well. The illustrations, rendered in crayon and modified digitally, are highly textured, and an earthy, subdued orange-red with a dusty copper undertone dominates the palette. It is with fantasy that she captures the moment (as seen on the cover) in which Picu sees the butterflies; her siblings and cousins are depicted flying in the air with white wings. <\/p>\n

A fascinating glimpse into a Quechua community. Here’s a selection of spreads. …
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n

“Picu smiled. She reached for the bag and shot off with the bone over her shoulder.
She heard Do\u00f1a Ciriaca\u2019s voice at her back: ‘Don\u2019t delay on the hillside,
because the Sachajoy is about. Give the mum my best!'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“She crossed the field and reached the hut just in time to push into the grandmother\u2019s skirts. The mum lowered her whip to take the bag
with its bone and the unexpected present.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“The five sisters, the seven cousins, the two sons of Swallow the peon, and the grandmother Estanislada all heard the mum\u2019s announcement.
‘Here, Picu. You have won the flavor bone.'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
(Click spread to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
(Click cover to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
\n
 

\nTHE YOUNGEST SISTER. First published by Greystone Books in 2022. Originally published in Argentina in 2018 as <\/em>La hermana menor. Text and illustrations copyright \u00a9 2018 Peque\u00f1o editor. Translation copyright \u00a9 2022 Elisa Amado. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Greystone Kids.<\/em> <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’s Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> Ada Lim\u00f3n as our new U.S. poet laureate<\/a><\/strong>! <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Ludovico Einaudi’s Underwater<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> The way this writer describes Andrew Bird’s “Underlands,”<\/a><\/strong> a song I’m mildly obsessed with. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Nora Brown kicking ass on the banjo<\/a><\/strong>, and she’s only something like 16 years old. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> 988<\/a><\/strong>. Such good news that this exists for people now. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> Last week’s episode of Better Call Saul<\/em>. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Naps. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Originally published in Argentina in 2018 and translated into English by Elisa Amado, Suniyay Moreno’s The Youngest Sister (Greystone Kids, May 2022), illustrated by Mariana Chiesa, brings readers a day in the life of a Quechua girl who lives in a mountain village in Argentina: “In the mountains, far from Vaca Hua\u00f1una, on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}