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El violín de Ada (Ada's Violin)

La historia de la Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados del Paraguay

Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport / Translated by Shelley McConnell

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About The Book

De la autora ganadora de premios Susan Hood y de la ilustradora Sally Wern Comport, llega la extraordinaria y verídica historia de la Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Paraguay, una orquesta compuesta por niños que tocan instrumentos hechos de basura reciclada.

From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.


Ada Ríos creció en Cateura, un pueblo pequeño en Paraguay construido alrededor de un vertedero. Soñaba con tocar el violín, pero con escasos recursos para poco más que lo esencial, nunca fue una opción…hasta que un maestro de música llamado Favio Chávez apareció. Él quiso darles a los niños de Cateura algo especial, así que les construyó instrumentos musicales hechos de materiales encontrados en la basura. Era una idea loca, pero una que dejaría a Ada—y al pueblo entero—cambiados para siempre. Hoy en día, la Orquesta de Reciclados toca alrededor del mundo, difundiendo su mensaje de esperanza e innovación.

Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada—and her town—forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.

About The Author

Photograph courtesy of the author

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including Ada’s ViolinAlias AnnaHarboring HopeThe Last StrawLifeboat 12, and Shaking Things Up. Susan is the recipient of the E.B. White Honor Award, two Christopher Awards, the Américas Award, the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, and the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, given to “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.” In addition to winning many state reading awards, Susan’s books have been named a National Jewish Book Awards finalist, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, a NCTE Notable Poetry Book, a NSTA Best Stem Book of the Year, an Amazon Teachers’ Pick, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and a Bank Street Best Book of the Year. Visit her at SusanHoodBooks.com.

About The Illustrator

Photograph by Coleman Sellers Photography

Sally Wern Comport has illustrated numerous picture books and novels, including Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Six Guiding Beliefs (as told by his niece)Brave Margaret: An Irish AdventureHanging Off Jefferson’s Nose: Growing Up on Mt. Rushmore; and the Spy Mice series. She has also translated her picture making skills to various large-scale public, private, and institutional artworks. Sally lives with her husband and two daughters in Annapolis, Maryland, where she operates Art at Large Inc. Learn more at ArtAtLargeInc.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (May 3, 2016)
  • Length: 40 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781481466578
  • Grades: P - 3
  • Ages: 4 - 8

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