¡Tocamos!: Mexican Folk Art Music Makers in English and Spanish

Young readers will delight in learning about a wide variety of musical instruments in English and Spanish through beautifully handcrafted sculptures from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Los lectores jóvenes se deleitarán aprendiendo sobre una amplia variedad de instrumentos musicales en inglés y español a través de bellas esculturas hechas a mano en Oaxaca, México.

Musical feathered friends gather to form an ensemble! A rooster brings a double bass, a crow totes a trombone, and a macaw carries an accordion. They are almost all together but wait--someone is missing! Once the final member joins the group, the music begins!

Featuring vibrant wood carvings and rhythmic text that’s fun to read aloud in both English and Spanish, Tocamos! introduces children to many orchestral instruments played at concerts in Mexican town squares. Each bird was lovingly hand carved and painted by master woodcarver Avelino Pérez who lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. Both Cynthia and Avelino are delighted to teach children the names of instrumentos musicales in Spanish and English.

Amigos musicales emplumados se reúnen para formar un conjunto! Un gallo trae un contrabajo, un cuervo lleva un trombón y una guacamaya lleva un acordeón. Están casi todos juntos pero espera, falta alguien. Una vez que el último miembro se une al grupo, comienza la música!

Con vibrantes tallas de madera y texto rítmico que es divertido leer en voz alta tanto en inglés como en español, Tocamos! presenta a los niños muchos instrumentos orquestales que se tocan en conciertos en las plazas de las ciudades mexicanas. Cada pájaro fue cuidadosamente tallado y pintado a mano por el maestro tallador de madera Avelino Pérez, que vive en Oaxaca, México. Tanto Cynthia como Avelino están encantados de enseñar a los niños los nombres de instrumentos musicales en español e inglés.

Cynthia Weill’s fascination with the crafts of Oaxaca began while she was working in Mexico as a Fulbright exchange teacher. She has published several books in the Mexican Folk Art series, which features different folk art of Oaxaca. Many of the figures showcased in this series are now part of the permanent Mesoamerican Anthropology collections at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Cindy lives in New York City and can be found online at cynthiaweill.net.

Avelino Pérez is a wood carving artisan who loves his state’s local concerts and enjoyed using his musical birds to represent these musicians and their instruments. It took him months to hand carve every single figure to help teach children about musicians and instruments in Spanish and English. Avelino lives in Oaxaca, Mexico.