Spanish publisher reissues “This Is My Town” for writer Elsa Wiezell’s centenary

A children’s book first published in Paraguay in 2006 has returned in a revised edition from Spanish publisher Verbum, which presented “This Is My Town” in Asunción ahead of Elsa Wiezell’s centenary on November 19.

Luis Rafael Hernández, the publisher’s director, described the book as an unusual and wide-ranging work. It brings together Wiezell’s perspectives as a teacher, ethnologist and folklorist, combining educational writing with literature. “This is a book of enormous interest,” Hernández said. “This Is My Town” includes material on Paraguayan history, poems, stories and texts designed to teach children values that remain relevant today.

The book also contains activities for classrooms and homes. Hernández said the reissue could become required reading in Paraguay’s primary schools. Verbum updated the material and commissioned new illustrations, making the edition almost a first publication in its own right, he said.

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This is a book of enormous interest. This Is My Town brings together not only the teacher’s perspective, but also that of the ethnologist and folklorist. It is a miscellany.

Lourdes Espínola Wiezell, the author’s daughter, attended the presentation. She called the book distinctive among her mother’s 40 published works because each chapter includes educational activities for teachers and students. She said it reflects two of Wiezell’s four identities as a teacher, writer, painter and feminist.

The story follows a friendship between a boy from the countryside and another from the city. Its chapters address major figures in Paraguayan history, urban and rural life, and aspects of the country’s culture. Aníbal Saucedo Rodas, director of the Cultural Center of the Republic El Cabildo, praised the reissue as a wonderful edition with illustrations suited to the text and thanked Verbum for its attention to Paraguayan literature.

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It is a wonderful edition, with drawings that fit the texts very well.