LeoNora M. Cohen

Campo Champions/Campeones del Campo

Pedro, age 10, works long hours in the fields with other family members, tending onions and broccoli. He hears that the Three Kings will be coming to a bigger town nearby. He so wants to ask the Kings for a soccer ball, so he and his friends can play. Their ball is flat as a tortilla!

With his father's blessing, he walks the 10 kilometers to Don Rafael, but is not permitted to get in line for a toy. He is told that because he does not go to the school, he is ineligible. Pedro waits patiently and persuades the Three Kings to give him a soccer ball.

With the help of his father and friends, the kids make a soccer field and practice every night. A game is played between his little pueblita of La Morenita and the much bigger Don Rafael, with some 99 balls given to kids there.

The story is bilingual, English and Spanish, sure to spark interest in countries on both sides for kids 7-11 who love soccer. The vibrant and active Illustrations by Fernanda Miguel Godinez Zuniga, a student at the school for the deaf in San Miguel, help language learners make sense of the story.

This story benefits Caminos de Agua, a not-for-profit organization in San Miguel de Allende that provides solutions for safe and healthy drinking water for at-risk communities that rely on the dwindling aquifer in the region.

About the Artist:  Fernanda Miguel Godinez Zúñiga

Fernanda Miguel Godínez Zúñiga is a talented 19-year-old student at
EEESMA, the school for the deaf in San Miguel. She has incredible
capacity for painting, whether on canvas, paper, fabric or other
material. She is about to finish high school, where she is learning
sewing. She currently designs and makes dresses in which she
applies her artistic creativity. Campo Champions is the third book
she illustrated for Nora. She created illustrations for Harriet’s Chariot
and also Finding Grace. This year, she was awarded a prize for her
artwork in the disabled youth category in Dolores Hidalgo.

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