The Technicolor Adventures of Catalina Neon

About the Project

The Technicolor Adventures of Catalina Neon

Hello! I’m Juan Felipe Herrera, the 21st U.S. Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. Welcome to “The Technicolor Adventures of Catalina Neon,” a bilingual, illustrated poem created with the help of artist Juana Medina ... and you. Throughout the 2016-2017 school year, teachers and librarians “neonized” their second and third grade students to help us tell Catalina’s story to the world!

Here’s how it worked: Juana and I created the initial chapter, but that’s only half the story. At the end of each chapter, we included a prompt and gave you—librarians, teachers and your students—a month to tell us where to go next. Together, contributors read the prompt, talked about it, imagined what could happen next, and collaboratively helped write the next chapter of Catalina’s adventure. Read the story from start to finish below!

Read itFirst Chapter  – “Meet Catalina Neon and Her Doggy, Tortilla”

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Read itSecond Chapter  – “Galactic Poetry Cosmic Library”

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We thank this chapter's contributors:

Read itThird Chapter  – “Enter the Neon”

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We thank this chapter's contributors:

Read itFourth Chapter  – “Behind the Door : Detrás de la Puerta”

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We thank this chapter's contributors:

Read itFifth Chapter  – “We Real Cool”

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We thank this chapter's contributors:

  • Librarian Marcie Reyes; teachers Ms. Almodovar, Ms. Perry, Ms. Sias, and Ms. Woofter; and students at Dr. Nixon Elementary, El Paso, TX

Read itEpilogue  – “Ride Out from Poetry Planeta”

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Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera, Photo credit: Blue Flower Arts

Juana Medina

Juana Medina, Photo credit: Silvia Baptiste

Drawing of Catalina Neon, sitting on a stack of books.