It almost seems too obvious to say that if a child does not have a book to read, the child will not read. As obvious as the statement is, the truth behind it should be enough to prompt anybody with the means to give a child a book, introducing that child not only to a life of literacy but opening the floodgates to imagination, to worlds and characters that can prompt good morals and values. Reading is the foundation to learning, setting a good foot forward toward accomplishments and successes. Literacy scholar Stephen Krashen argues that “children with access to reading materials read more than those without access, and children who read more, read better.”
With this in mind, Pat Mora – poet and author of books for children, teens, and adults – made it an integral part of her life to not only be committed to children’s literacy, but to get a book in the hands of as many children as possible through her initiative El día de los niños/El día del los libros. 
On her personal website Mora writes, “When the desert wind howled outside, I felt safe in my bed with a book.” Her mission, undoubtedly, is to make this safety available to every child who needs it.
The unsettling Mexican Revolution of the early 20th Century prompted Mora’s grandparents to leave México and seek tranquility somewhere north, settling in El Paso, Texas. Mora’s mother, Estelita, as she was called at home, attended an English-speaking school, often playing “the role of translator between these two worlds,” notes the Reading Rockets website.
Mora, consequently, grew up speaking primarily Spanish at home, greatly influenced by her four grandparents, but, like her mother, attended an English-speaking school, adhering to the American means of education. Although Mora began writing in elementary school, she didn’t see herself as a writer. She states on her website, “As a child, I never thought of myself as a writer because I never saw a writer who looked like me. I never knew a writer who was bilingual.”
Many years later, well into adulthood and once she began writing, Mora “realized her Mexican heritage had never really been welcomed at school,” marking a turning point in her life. She explored and rediscovered her Mexican heritage and bicultural upbringing through her writing. In the Reading Rockets interview, she astutely states, “It is interesting to me that though I lived in a very bilingual community, Spanish was never mentioned at school...but Spanish and being of Mexican descent and being part of the border experience was never part of my educational experience. It was really when I sat down to start writing...that I realized that part of my life had never been totally welcomed in my educational experience.” Overlooking, neglecting, or even never being aware of one’s heritage is almost suggesting one is incomplete, missing out on the beauty that culture possesses.
Image caption: Pat Mora. Courtesy of Pat Mora.
Latina women like Mora seem to be living a life of double negatives, suppressed for their race and gender and perceived as inferior. However, Mora has made astonishing things happen throughout her lifetime, clearing the way for Latinos to have a voice in literature and beyond. She has worked tirelessly to incorporate her culture through her quest for widespread literacy, argues Jamie Martinez Wood in Latino Writers and Journalists. Mora is hugely aware of the suppression Latinos experience and its stifling effects on children of the borderland, further worsened by the lack of literacy. However, with genuine compassion leading her life, literature targeting her culture, and passion for children’s education, Mora’s challenging work has paid off, having moved mountains for her culture.
Born in the borderland city of El Paso, Texas, January 19, 1942, Mora is a second-generation Mexican American. Her realization of the lack of Mexican American literature sparked the fire to a successful publishing life, pioneering that journey for all Latinxs. Before her influential career as an author, Mora earned her B.A. at Texas Western College in 1963 and graduated with her M.A. from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1967. She then pursued a career as a teacher at the secondary and college levels, teaching at El Paso Community College and UTEP and frequently speaking to teachers, librarians, and parents about ways to educate children through reading better.
After her divorce in 1981, Mora left teaching to write children’s books and poetry, “working diligently to maintain the pride and respect she felt should be invested into preserving Mexican American literature,” affirms The University of Minnesota’s Voices from the Gaps. It was then that Mora began publishing contemporary Hispanic literature.
Every artist has their canvas. For Mora, that canvas is her culture. In Laura Spencer Gutierrez’s article “The Desert Blooms: Flowered Songs by Pat Mora,” Mora says, “Family, the Mexican American culture, and the desert are all important themes. The desert, mi madre, is my stern teacher... the Southwestern landscape has been my point of reference.” Her statement is a testament to how vital it is for children to incorporate their culture into books and poetry. If they do so, they can form positive connections between reading, writing, and the culture they are surrounded by. Diversity in literature helps children establish optimistic outlooks towards all groups that make up a community, society, and the world they live in while letting them identify biases and stereotypes when faced with differing cultures.
Mora’s literary career encountered tribulations in huge publications. In “The Influence of Pat Mora: How – and Why – Literacy Becomes Political,” Kathleen Dudden Rowlands, assistant professor in the Michael D. Eisner College of Education at California State University, writes, “Mora sent in several manuscripts and received rapid rejections, frustrating her. ‘Writing for publication was discouraging,’ she explains, ‘and rejection was hard to deal with.’” As a writer, Mora wanted to help children understand, recognize, and ultimately enjoy reading, “bookjoy,” as she puts it. She has stood firm that literacy directly correlates with education, a better job, and a better lifestyle. Ultimately, she believes the state of literacy can determine the socioeconomic situation of a community. Throughout the United States, border cities like El Paso, with prominent Hispanic populations, are rated most illiterate. This could be why El Paso has a mean household income below the national average and a poverty rate above the national average. Mora’s position coincides with the aid she provides to educators, students, and her community, demonstrating that literacy opens the gates for any culture to succeed.
The strength of her heritage propels Mora; as a result, her work resonates with themes of oppression, survival and triumph. But to preserve an entire culture through words and stories is a heavy task for any one person to have. Rowlands quotes Mora as saying: “A key issue is having the U.S. Latino and Latina voice heard and respected, whether we are talking about public policy, literacy, or American literature for children and adults. I have a desire to move away from the margin. I want us to be perceived as active participants in creating a society we all want to live in. Yet I have learned that committing yourself to those who are often denigrated, ignored, and seen as inferior can be heartbreaking work.”
Quite often, cultural dissonance is at the center of her work. “Just as the ecology movement warns that biological diversity is crucial to biotic survival, Mora warns that cultural diversity is crucial to human survival since it helps maintain diversity in general,” says Patrick D. Murphy in the article “Conserving Natural and Cultural Diversity: The Prose and Poetry of Pat Mora.” Murphy reaffirms Mora’s position as an advocate for preserving the Chicano culture – and of cultures all over the United States – through literacy. Her perspective and philosophy, her improvements to children’s education, and her resources have reached publications, authors, teachers, librarians, and parents, opening their eyes to the idea of keeping their culture alive through writing.
Image caption: Pat Mora, Book Fiesta. Courtesy of Wikipedia
El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) is a holiday Mora has, in a sense, altered or modified. Día De Los Niños, occurring every April 30, celebrates childhood and is used as an opportunity to examine children’s physical and emotional conditions throughout the country. However, Mora took this already commendable celebration a step further, a way to give back to the community by incorporating literature and the very act of reading. In “Pat Mora on Día, the Arbuthnot Lecture, and Diverse Books: 20 Years and Counting,” Ruth Quiroa explains that Día intends to “celebrate children and connect them to the world of learning through books, stories and libraries; recognize and respect culture, heritage, and language as powerful tools for strengthening families and communities; nurture cognitive and literacy development in ways that honor and embrace a child’s home language and culture; and introduce families to community resources that provide opportunities for learning through multiple literacies.” Since its inception in 1997, Día has enjoyed a successful 25-year run thus far. Nonetheless, Mora intends for it to be a holiday every day.
Participating universities, colleges, schools, libraries, museums, and community organizations across the country recognize and celebrateDía, the first celebration occurring in Mora’s hometown of El Paso on April 30. In 2005, as many as 30,000 El Pasoans, many of them low-income, gathered for an extraordinary Día event. The city provided free bus service, and the El Paso Police donated their time to the celebration. Thousands of books landed in the hands of children of the borderland, making it one of the most successful Día celebrations.
“Community outreach and cooperation,” says Rowlands, “are important side benefits of Día.” As a result, the goals of the Día initiative have expanded to include five pillars to successful learning: to honor children and childhood; to promote literacy and the importance of linking all children to books, languages and cultures; to celebrate home languages and cultures, and promoting bilingual and multicultural literacy in this multicultural nation, and global understanding through reading; to involve parents as valued members of the literacy team; and lastly, to promote library collection development that reflects plurality.
With humility and hospitality, Mora encourages teachers and librarians to pave the way for multicultural books to enter the public-school systems. At a talk at North Carolina State University, Mora says, “It helps to be not only a reader but a diverse reader so you, yourself, can bring examples into your classroom. You are the solution for your students. Embed knowledge in your own life. It’s a big responsibility; it’s important work you’re doing; and I applaud you.” Mora often offers advice to her educational peers, motivating teachers to engage with their students with an open mind. After all, Mora’s objective is to infuse positive reinforcement in the classrooms so children can find joy in learning and reading.
Image caption: Pat Mora . Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
As a person, Mora is not only kind and comforting, she is grounded, powerful, and dedicated to bringing awareness to the importance of making literature reachable for children. But awareness is only the first step. To Mora, it is just not a book, a poem, or some catchy words written on paper. She is showing children of color an example of who they can be and continues to pave the way for Chicanos to overcome obstacles that society has set up. She has made noise for the Chicano culture to have a voice in literacy and has made an impactful contribution to not view Mexican American literature as not worthy enough. Yes, a double negative, but her message is well made. Pat Mora has opened the door to the awareness of multi-cultural repression in literature, and it is up to the community to change the statistics. Pat Mora, we applaud you!!!
