Where Love Begins: A Poem/Donde comienza el amor: Un poema

PreS-Gr 2—What does it mean to be from a place? This bilingual picture book weaves together the pieces of daily life that comprise the culture of Bernalillo, New Mexico. Phillips draws on the tradition of oral history to compose parallel Spanish/English bilingual poems that capture her memories of growing up in this Southwest town. The opening lines, "This is my home/Where love begins," center Phillips's poetic testimonios of love and cultural resilience in the home and family. Her poems offer an intergenerational transference of cultural knowledge through the telling and honoring of her Latinx/Native heritage. Phillips describes special feast days when the community gathers for processions and ceremonial tributes to San Lorenzo and the dance of Los Matachines, both Sandia Pueblo cultural practices that link back to the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. Arena's full-bleed, hue-seeped acrylic on canvas illustrations complement each set of poems located on the facing page. The illustrator frames the verses with pastel washes resembling the desert sky at dawn. Humans and animals are depicted in silhouette, inviting readers to dive into the Southwest scenes that she illustrates using a palette of golden yellows, fuchsias, sandy peaches, and sky blues.