Sunflower: Poems by Children of the Americas

John Walker is a professor of Spanish studies at Queen’s University.

Tournesol/Sunflower/Girasol is a trilingual collection of poems written
by some 50 children, ranging in age from 8 to 12, from Canada, Mexico,
and the United States. The anthology is divided into four parts: poems
by francophone children from Quebec, poems by English-speaking children
from Quebec, poems by Mexican children, and poems by children from
California, with translations in the languages of the other children.

The Canadian francophone children address topics such as their
families, nature, death, and loneliness in poems that were largely
written during workshops held in Montreal libraries. Similar themes
appear in the anglophone contributions, which are excerpts from the
anthology For All Seasons (1996), published by the Protestant School
Board of Greater Montreal. The poems by Mexican children were written
during poetry workshops held in the National Museum of Anthropology in
Mexico City; this section is rooted in national legends, mythology, and
history (Quetzalcoatl, the Sun, Mexican gods, etc.).

Part 4 contains 15 poems by children from Oakland, California. These
texts came out of workshops held by visiting Mexican poets as part of
Oakland’s Poets in the School program. Many of these poems were
inspired by paintings and photographs of natural phenomena—stars,
trees, hawks, and the vision these Chicano children had of their Mexican
past, which enabled them to re-create their heritage, legends, and myths
in their new country.

The aim of this bright, colorful collection is to reach out to children
of all races and languages, to transcend borders and stereotypes, and to
stimulate young people to use their imaginative skills and express
themselves poetically, no matter what their backgrounds might be. The
editor, Suzanne Cфté-Gauthier, contributed the strikingly beautiful
illustrations. Recommended.