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Book of Questions

Spanish / English

Pablo Neruda Paloma Valdivia Sara Lissa Paulson

$29.99

Hardback

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Spanish
ENCHANTED LION
26 April 2022
Age range 7+

This bilingual Spanish-English edition is the first illustrated selection of questions, 60 in all, from Pablo Neruda's original poemThe Book of Questions.

Holding the wonder and mystery of childhood and the experience and knowing that come with growing up, these questions are by turns lyrical, strange, surreal, spiritual, historical and political. They foreground the natural world, and their curiosity transcends all logic; and because they are paradoxes and riddles that embrace the limits of our ability to know, they engage with human freedom in the deepest way, removing the burden and constraint that somehow, we are meant to have answers to every question. Gorgeously, cosmically illustrated by Paloma Valdivia, Neruda's questions, already visual in themselves, gain a double visuality that makes them even more palpable and resonant. So clearly rooted in Chilean landscapes as they are, the questions are revealed as a communion with nature and its mysteries.

By:  
Illustrated by:   Paloma Valdivia
Translated by:  
Imprint:   ENCHANTED LION
Country of Publication:   United States
Edition:   Bilingual edition
Dimensions:   Height: 304mm,  Width: 222mm, 
ISBN:   9781592703227
ISBN 10:   1592703224
Pages:   80
Publication Date:  
Recommended Age:   From 7 to 18 years
Audience:   Children/juvenile ,  English as a second language
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Pablo Neruda (Parral, Chile, 1904 - Santiago de Chile, Chile, 1973), whose real name was Neftali Reyes Basoalto, is undoubtedly one of the pinnacles of world poetry of the last century. Famous from a very young age, he lived in Santiago from 1920 to 1927, years in which he wrote, among others, the collection of poems Twenty love poems and a Song of Despair, which has perhaps gained widest popularity of all his work and marks the moment when he first achieves his full powers as a Spanish-language poet. Neruda traveled extensively and and served as Chile's ambassador to several countries, including Burma, France, and Argentina. He was a prominent political activist, member of the Communist Party, and a militant intellectual. Endowed with incomparable verbal power, he also founded a revolutionary conception of poetry. His literary career is one of the main expressive adventures of the lyric in the Spanish language. In awarding him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, the Swedish Academy described him as a poet who brings to life the destinies and dreams of an entire continent. Neruda was also awarded the International Peace Prize. Born in Chile in 1978, Paloma studied design at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and studied Creative Illustration at the Eina School of Art and Design in Barcelona, Spain. Her main passion is illustrated books for children. Her book have been translated into 12 languages. As a teacher, she directs the degree program in Illustration and Autobiographical Narrative at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She lives in Santiago with her family.

Reviews for Book of Questions (Spanish / English)

Blues and reds and yellows weave in and out of words trailing one after another, poking and prodding the universe for answers to millennia-old questions. Sixty of the original 316 questions penned by the inimitable Chilean poet Pablo Neruda perch on vibrant landscapes solo, in pairs, or in trilling triplets. Each rumination is compelling in its whimsy, yet profound in its simplicity. Just as a wish cast onto the heavens returns with a treasure, so too do the thoughts of the poet. The answers, like the questions, dwell in infinity. Both the original Spanish and Paulson's English translation mirror the poignancy echoing from one tongue to the next. Her translations sustain the lyricism of Neruda's dreamscapes. Valdivia's stylized illustrations are striking and a perfect counterpoint to this wondrous collection of ethereal literary images. A lovely exploration of diversity, language, and culture, and a splendid introduction to Neruda's works for the very young. -STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal


  • Joint winner of A Marginalian (fka Brain Pickings) Favorite Book 2022 (United States)
  • Joint winner of A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2022 2022 (United States)

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