Families who loved A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters by Duncan Tonatiuh often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your child expresses a deep interest in art or when you want to instill a sense of pride in diverse cultural histories. It is a perfect choice for children who ask how people lived before modern technology or how stories were told before the alphabet we use today. Through the eyes of a young boy and his older sister, the book explores the world of the Mexihcah (Aztec) people and their 'Amoxtli' or books. It details how they used natural pigments to create codices that recorded everything from history and science to sacred rituals. The tone is one of profound respect and wonder. It is ideal for elementary schoolers as it balances technical information about Mesoamerican art with a narrative that celebrates the continuity of culture and the power of recording one's own story. You might choose this to broaden your child's understanding of what a 'book' can be and to honor the indigenous roots of North American history.
