Fuego, Fuegito/ Fire, Little Fire (English and Spanish Edition) by Jorge Argueta, Felipe Ugalde Alcantara

My name is Fire / but everyone calls me / Little Fire. In this beautiful, poetic ode to the invigorating power of fire, award-winning children s book author Jorge Argueta describes in English, Spanish and Nahuat the characteristics of fire from the perspective of one little flame.

From its birth as a spark, Little Fire flits like a firefly and plays hide and seek inside a volcano. He grows between two sticks rubbed together or on a stone that strikes another. Little Fire is red, yellow, orange and turquoise. I look like the sun / but I am no sun. / I am Fire, Little Fire / who laughs, / who dances. Little Fire sings, sizzle, / hiss, / whoosh, / crackle, crackle.

With stunningly beautiful illustrations by Felipe Ugalde Alcántara that depict the natural world, this poem about the importance of fire reflects Argueta s indigenous roots and his appreciation for nature. Containing the English and Spanish text on each page, the entire poem appears at the end in Nahuat, the language of Argueta s Pipil-Nahua ancestors. The sequel to Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water, this book is an excellent choice to encourage children to write their own poems about the environment.