Resources for Educators on El Salvador

EL SALVADOR

Children

• Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes by Manlio Argueta (Bilingual)
• Countries of the World: El Salvador by Kathleen W. Deady This convenient and accessible book explores the geography, culture, lifestyles, food, holidays, sports, and animals of El Salvador. Complete with full-color illustrations, a vocabulary guide, and a children’s activity, it is an excellent classroom tool for teaching about the country and its people.
• A Movie in My Pillow/Una película en mi almohada by Jorge Argueta. Short poems tell Jorgito’s story as he remembers his native El Salvador and deals with the confusion and delight he experiences in his new life in San Francisco. An exceptionally beautiful book, both touching and humorous. The 2001 Américas Award winner in the picture book category from the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs.
• El Zipitio by Jorge Argueta. Rufina, a Pipil/Nahua girl in El Salvador, is growing into a lovely young women when her mother tells her the story of El Zipitio, a legendary figure who approaches all young women with the intention of being their first love. When she encounters him by the river Rufina is afraid and runs off, until her wise mother tells her she has nothing to fear despite El Zipitio’s strange appearance. Beautiful illustrations.
• Talking with Mother Earth: Poems/Hablando con Madre Tierra: Poemas by Jorge Argueta
• Waiting for Papá/Esperando a Papá by Anthony Accardo This story, based on the author’s own immigration experience, tells of a young boy who escapes war-torn El Salvador with his mother for the U.S. ("el país de las promesas y oportunidades"), but has to leave his father behind. The longing for his father consumes the boy, who, never giving up hope that one day the family will be re-united, devises a clever way to buy a gift for his far-away dad.

 Young Adult

• Odyssey to the North, A Promise to Keep and Viaje a la Tierra del Abuelo by Mario Bencastro. Novels for young adults by a Salvadoran-American author.
• Journey of the Sparrows by Fran Leeper Buss. A powerful novel about one family’s difficult journey from El Salvador to Chicago. This poetic narrative breathes with personal trauma and compassion for the refugee experience, while giving an accurate interpretation of immigrant life in the U.S. The 1992 winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. A new edition published in 2002.
• Emilio by Julia Mercedes Castilla An engaging story about a young immigrant's struggles to adapt and excel in his new home. He misses his Central American town, but eventually begins to make friends and find his place and talents in a new school. By an author born in Colombia.
• Poetry Like Bread edited by Martín Espada. Collection of poetry in English and Spanish, includes Salvadoran poets. Curbstone Press.

Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction; some of these are also appropriate for high school students depending on their reading level.

• One Day of Life and Cuzcatlan by Manlio Argueta
• Ashes of Izalco and Family Album by Claribel Alegria
• Central America Inside Out: The Essential Guide to Its Societies, Politics, and Economics, by Tom Barry
• Inside El Salvador: The Essential Guide to its Politics, Economy, Society, and Environment by Tom Barry ( Information on the politics, military, economy, society, social organizations, environment, and foreign influences of the country. Includes analysis of the civil war and its aftermath).
• The Weight of All Things by Sandra Benítez
• Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benítez Spanning the years between 1932 and 1977, this beautifully told epic novel follows three generations of women in El Salvador. A story of mothers and daughters who live, love, and die for their passions. American Book Award winner in 1998.
• The Massacre at El Mozote by Mark Danner
• Rebel Radio: The Story of EL Salvador's Radio Venceremos by Jose Ignacio Lopez Vigil
• Witness to War: An American Doctor in El Salvador by Charles Clements
• Death Foretold: The Jesuits Murder in El Salvador by Marta Doggett   A detailed look at the life and murder of the Jesuits.
• Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez A novel about the life of a Salvadoran refugee in the US.

 Historical photographs

• El Salvador : Images We Must Not Forget 1900 -1999 by Equipo Maíz
• No Hay Guerra que Dure Cien Años by Ivan Montesinos (Captions in English, Spanish and French. It is out of print but you can buy it used).

Film

• If the Mango Tree Could Speak by Pat Goudvis This award-winning film intimately portrays ten boys and girls, ages 12 to 15, growing up in the midst of war in Guatemala and El Salvador. They talk about war and peace, justice, ethnic identity, friendship and marriage, sharing their dreams and hopes as well as their pain and loss.
• Innocent Voices ( www.innocentvoicesmovie.com)
• Dying to Live: A Migrant’s Journey (www.dyingtolive.nd.edu)
• Romero

OTHER CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRIES

• I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchu, Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, and Ann Wright
• And We Sold the Rain edited by Rosario Santos. This updated version of the classic collection of stories includes four new stories. Stories by Claribel Alegría, Robert Castillo, Carmen Naranjo, Arturo Arias, Jacinta Escudos, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Mario Payeras, Leonel Rugama, Mario Roberto Morales, Julio Escoto, Sergio Ramírez, Alfonso Quijada Urías, Pedro Rivera, Bertalicia Peralta, Manlio Argueta, Samuel Rovinski, Lysandro Chávez Alfaro, Augusto Monterroso, and Fabián Dobles. Manyo f the stories can also be shared with young adults.
• Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-Glass World by Eduardo Galeano. This is a creative critique of globalization.
• School of Assassins by Jack Nelson-Pallemeyer  
• City of the People by Penny Lernoux
• How Holocausts Happen: The United States in Central America by Douglas V. Porpora

Special thanks to Maryland educator and activist Claudia Rodriguez for her contributions to this list.