Meet Balam, a boy who could be a cat. Meet Lluvia, a girl who could be the dawn. Balam and Lluvia are siblings who catch fireflies, bid farewell to their pet fish in the bathroom, and wait for Ratón Pérez to collect their teeth. In Balam and Lluvia's House, the secret tastes and sounds of the everyday are waiting to be found. From the smell of crushed laurel leaves to the whispers of the peach tree in their back garden, every day is a day of discovery. Full of lively and reflective poems, this book invites the reader to run alongside Balam and Lluvia captivated by the world that surrounds them. Lawrence Schimel's translation brings the work of acclaimed Guatemalan author and playwright Julio Serrano Echeverría into English for the first time. Shortlisted for the CLiPPA Poetry Award and The Week Junior Book Awards 2024.
Julio Serrano Echeverría is a Guatemalan writer, poet, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Mestizo, African and Mayan descent. He has held fellowships from the Fundación Carolina, the Iberoamerican Artists Residence FONCA-AECID and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the US, where he has also been artist in residence and lectures regularly on poetry and Latin American culture. His poetry collections include Tierra, Antes del mar, Estados de la materia, Central Ámerica, and his children's books include En botas de astronauta and Dos cabezas para meter un gol.
