Margarito's Forest
is a story of Maya culture and wisdom passed from one generation to the next. This beautifully illustrated bilingual book in English and Spanish, with excerpts in K'iche', is based on María Guadalupe's memories of her father, Don Margarito Esteban Álvarez Velázquez. It follows Don Margarito's lifelong work of planting and nurturing trees after his village in Guatemala is chased from their ancestral land by a right wing military. The Maya carry their love for the forest with them, creating a beautiful forest in the mountains.As the devastating effects of climate change become clear, Don Margarito's life and the ways of the Maya offer timely wisdom for a planet in peril. The lovely illustrations show Maya children learning to plant trees and to nurture them until the trees are tall and sturdy. The book can provide opportunities for a conversation with children about their own community and the impact of the heavy carbon footprint that is threatening ecosystems everywhere. There are helpful study questions for teachers, librarians and parents about Don Margarito and his village. The book also includes a brief explanation of the Maya numbering system, which is likely the first civilization to introduce the use of zero in counting. Children will learn how to count in K'iche' and to compare their number system with our own Arabic system.