Description
What is the story behind the Golden Seed?
My daughter was going through a life-threatening situation, I had a first-grade concert to plan and prepare, and I had neither the stamina nor the strength to do it. I needed motivation that might help me see beyond that difficulty. I decided to dedicate the concert to my daughter, so I started brainstorming about my daughter’s traits and underlying values.
She is a dreamer, a singer, a dancer, and has always been brave and dauntless. I had 5 first-grade classes! Bingo! This was going to be a real-life story turned into a musical experience. I had the idea, the character, the conflict, and this is how the story began.
Mía, the main character, is at the same time Dream-Catcher, Brave Heart, Dancing Warrior, Sparkly Singer, and Strong Soul. She dreamed about a golden seed that was going to give her the power to see the invisible. She asked her best friends for help. She was determined to find it. She climbed the hardest mountains, went through dark caves, and stormy oceans, and at the end, she was singing and dancing again. She was blooming like the Guayacán trees. An old Ecuadorian legend says that Guayacán trees were gigantic trees covered with gold from the roots to their flowers and that not even the strongest storms could destroy them.
Children and adults may experience challenging circumstances. This book reflects on the fact that each one of us has a golden seed inside of us. We need to find it and have the power to see the good in life in spite of the difficulties.
My dream is that my writing may help many children who go through challenging circumstances at such a young age and still are so valiant and courageous. Heroes that, even though their childhood may be interrupted by unexpected events, are always ready to flourish and smile at life. Heroes that have a golden heart capable of sheltering and illuminating not just their mothers’ path or caregivers, but also the path of all the people around them.
This purchase includes 2 PDF versions of the book (English and Spanish), 2 links to interactive flipbooks (English and Spanish) and audio tracks by:
Pedro Andrade
Fernando Muñoz (recording on page 12)
Kate Bright (final recording)
Liban O. Gómez :) (verified owner) –
I love reading this story. It reminds me to not forget to be courageous. It is a story that all readers can relate to the main character as we go through our own life journeys. Sometimes we will encounter difficulties and we mustn’t give up. The book lends itself to so many different learning and exploring opportunities and possibilities ranging from class discussions, music making, music creating, to movements, and acting the story, etc.. I also love that this book is in both languages: English and Spanish, which helps, supports, promotes, and reinforces biliteracy fluency/comprehension for my students who are in the journey of becoming biliterate: being able to read and write proficiently in two languages.
Such a beautiful story.
We all have a golden seed.
Thank you María del Carmen Andrade for this lovely gift.
Kristine McDonald –
An inspiring story. I love the journey looking for the golden seed. The characters and illustrations are wonderful. This is the first book I’ve encountered with sound built into the story. A totally different experience!!! My brain is full of ways to incorporate music concepts into this story and use it with my students. Thank you for sharing your story with the world.
juliamalafarina (verified owner) –
Every part of this book is made with love, from the story, to the illustrations, to the beautiful audio tracks! It invites discussions around social and emotional learning, as well as all our Orff favorites: sing, say, dance, play, and create! I’m excited to explore all the creative possibilities of The Golden Seed with my students!
Warkenda Williams-Casey (verified owner) –
Beautiful and perfect for classroom exploration.
Sebastián Almeida (verified owner) –
Beautiful book. It definitely lifts the spirit, thank you for sharing :)