Treasures in the Prairie
Tesoros en la Pradera
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This book, a collection of bilingual poems, is the realization of my dream to record my thoughts for my family. The majority of my poems come from telling stories and poems to my children when toddlers; as well as my early childhood experiences while growing up in my country of birth, El Salvador, Central America. In addition to the years of my youth in two countries after immigrating to the United States, my chosen career as Educator gave me the opportunity to work my way from Bilingual Aide for migrant children to Director of Educational Services for the Stockton Unified School District in Stockton, California. My thirty-seven years in education afforded me the rich experience of listening to the dreams of hundreds of children and the youth in the Valley of San Joaquin in the state of California. These unforgettable impressions provide a fountain of ideas for my poetry and stories.
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About the Book
Poetry, oral folklore, and short stories have been a source of transfer of traditions and culture through many generations. Riddles and oral folklore continue to be a wealth of resources for parents to share with their children their history and traditions they inherited from previous generations.
In Treasures in Prairie, author Sylvia Ulmer presents a compilation of fun stories and folklore. Presented in a poem format in both Spanish and English, the selections include memories of the stories told to Ulmer by her father, as well as tales and rhymes she shared with her children when they were young.
From a wise turtle to the astute parrot and a hungry mouse, the selections help children learn about a variety of creatures and their habitat and traits. This anthology is geared for elementary children, but it also provides opportunities for all students to enrich their vocabulary in Spanish and English.
About the Author
Sylvia Ulmer worked as a teacher in the San Joaquin Valley and as a principal and Director of Educational Services for the Stockton Unified School District in the City of Stockton in California. Her family emigrated from El Salvador, Central America, to the United States. She earned her citizenship and made California her home. During her career, she received many awards, including the recipient of the Administrator of the Year by Phi Delta Kappa Chapter of the University of the Pacific. As part of her education, she received her doctorate degree in Administration and Research. Her legacy and extensive work with children learning English was recognized and celebrated in the City of Stockton when she became the recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award in 2012. She was also recognized in an international competition for poetry through the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
Now retired, she focuses in writing, and compiling the many poems and stories she has written through her years in education. In this book, Dr. Ulmer attempts to focus on the children’s imagination as they discover facts about each animal described throughout the book. As the author, it was her intent as each poem was written, to play with sounds and rhymes, adding humor, in order to spark the imagination and bring each animal to life.