Alma Flor Ada Award Provides a New Canon for Bilingual Teachers
Carlos Ulloa has a saying he likes to share with the future educators in his classes. The standards, he says, are their compass and the materials are their tools.
Three years ago, the lecturer in San Diego State University’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education took action to ensure that future bilingual educators have the best tools possible.
His brainchild was the Alma Flor Ada Book Award, which was launched as part of the DLE Virtual Center for Bilingual and Bicultural Books for Children and Young Adults. Named after a renowned children’s book author and champion for bilingual education, the award highlights bilingual and bicultural books for children and young adults.
“I wanted to make sure that we were able to give our student teachers going through the DLE program the opportunity to pull in the best literature — a new canon — and know how to use it in their classroom.” explains Ulloa, a longtime bilingual educator, principal and school board trustee in North San Diego County.
“I don’t want them to be stuck with something that’s just given to them as an adopted textbook.”
At the 2023 San Diego Dual Language Conference this spring, two new books were added to the canon. This year’s awardees — both coming from the young adult genre — are “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and “The Distance Between Us” by Reyna Grande.
“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” is a coming of age story about two Mexican-American friends grappling with racial identity, family dynamics and sexuality. “The Distance Between Us” is a memoir in which Grande recounts the harrowing immigrant experience of her and her family.
Mary Waldron, a former DLE lecturer and a member of the Alma Flor Ada Award committee, praised both books for their masterful exploration of “timely and timeless” themes that will resonate for current students.
“Many of our credential students are immigrants themselves and the student population they're placed with for student teaching is going to have students who are also having these experiences,” Waldron said. “I believe in the vision of establishing a new canon that truly reflects what is current culturally, politically, socially, and in our students' experiences.
“I believe in the importance of bringing rich, beautiful literature to children — something that excites them, that makes them laugh, and that they can connect to.”
Both Sáenz and Grande joined the conference virtually to accept their awards and answer questions from the audience, which included DLE teaching credential students. One DLE candidate also presented an integrated unit she had created around “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.”
“It was very inspiring for Mary and I to see this next generation and feel this sense of relief — of hope for the future,” Ulloa said. “I’m thrilled that they're going to have the tools and the resources to make literacy relevant to students and let them know that they appear in literature.
“A lot of kids don't know that there are these beautiful immigrant stories. They don't know there are these beautiful stories about diversity and inclusion. Really, it's about giving them a mirror.”
Previous Alma Flor Ada Winners
2021
"Esperanza Rising," by Pam Muñoz Ryan
2022
"Dreamers" by Yuyi Morales
"Love" by Matt de la Peña
