Editorial Gente Nueva (cover designer and illustrator: Rita Gutiérrez Varela), "Poemitas," by María Teresa Sánchez, 1981.

Poemitas is a delightful collection of children's poetry by María Teresa Sánchez Arrieta, published by Editorial Gente Nueva in 1981. The book exemplifies the revolutionary government's commitment to producing high-quality, beautifully designed literature for Cuba's youngest readers, combining accessible verse with striking visual artistry to nurture children's love of language and learning.

Cover designer and illustrator Rita Gutiérrez Varela creates an enchanting tropical paradise that bursts with life and color. The front cover presents a joyful menagerie of Cuban wildlife against a brilliant cerulean blue background representing sky and water. A magnificent coral-red flamingo with a bright yellow beak stands balanced on one long black leg atop a brown nest, while two emerald-green ducks with pink breasts swim before a golden sun. A multicolored butterfly with yellow, red, and blue wings flutters among wildflowers in pink, red, yellow, and orange that bloom across a verdant green landscape. Decorative wavy lines suggest water, connecting all the creatures in this harmonious ecosystem.

The back cover continues the avian theme with two vibrant parrots—rendered in coral-red with green wing tips, yellow and orange tail feathers, white eye rings, and yellow beaks—soaring across the blue sky beneath a golden sun. The simplified, geometric style of the illustrations recalls both traditional Cuban folk art and international mid-century children's book design, while the bold color palette and flat color fields demonstrate sophisticated graphic design techniques.

Varela's illustrations perfectly complement poetry designed for preschool-level readers (marked as level 07-28439), creating a warm, inviting visual world that encourages young children to engage with literature. The playful compositions, friendly animal characters, and saturated tropical colors reflect Cuba's natural beauty while embodying the optimistic, educational spirit of revolutionary children's publishing.

Editorial Gente Nueva, Cuba's primary children's book publisher, produced this volume with careful attention to production quality, employing editor Yolanda Borlado Vázquez, corrector Sonia M. Rocha Pérez, and graphic handler Irma Pérez Jiménez. Published at the height of Cuba's cultural renaissance in the early 1980s, Poemitas represents the intersection of literary education, visual arts, and socialist values in forming new generations of Cuban readers.