The Upside Down Boy/El Nino De Cabeza

Written by Juan Felipe Herrera
Illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez
Published by Children's Book Press (CA)

The Upside Down Boy is award-winning poet Juan Felipe Herrera’s engaging memoir of the year his migrant family settled down so that he could go to school for the first time. Juanito is bewildered by the new school, and he misses the warmth of country life. Everything he does feels upside down. He eats lunch when it’s recess; he goes out to play when it’s time for lunch; and his tongue feels like a rock when he tries to speak English. But a sensitive teacher and loving family help him to find his voice and make a place for himself in this new world through poetry, art, and music. Juan Felipe Herrera’s playful language and the colorful, magical art of Elizabeth Gomez capture the universal experience of children entering a new school feeling like strangers in a world that seems upside down-at first.