Two educators, Juan Carlos Prieto Martinez and David Salvador Saez, have witnessed the pandemic’s impact on classrooms firsthand. In middle school and primary settings respectively, they transformed their lived experiences into a book. The work, titled Professor Aulatriste, follows a youth-oriented story that offers keys to learning how to manage emotions and reveals what textbooks often overlook. The authors planned a launch this Friday at 19:00 in the El Corte Inglés Cultural Area in Alicante.
The inspiration for the book came as a return to teaching after a period of personal and professional disruption. They observed a quiet, heavy silence among students and sensed fear and sadness in many faces. The project became a way to document and address those emotions. The two teachers describe the creation as a journey that began from the margins of everyday school life and quickly grew into a central mission over a single month.
Professor Aulatriste introduces a character named Adriel, a resident of Villalegre, a town celebrated for its happiness. Yet trouble brews, threatening the town’s cheerful spirit. A teacher named Carlos, who is unusually inventive, uses a set of unconventional methods to guide students toward reclaiming that happiness. The story emphasizes that the real heroes are the emotions themselves, including fear, anger, and sadness, rather than any single student or teacher. The authors highlight the importance of recognizing and guiding these emotions inside the classroom.
Emotions take center stage as the driving force of the narrative. The writers suggest that the goal is not simply to suppress or ignore these feelings but to understand and channel them in constructive ways. In classrooms that adopt the book, practical activities and discussions accompany the reading, enabling students to explore how emotions influence learning and behavior. The authors point out that working with these themes in class can create a powerful, experiential approach to personal growth and social development.
The narrative also explores how adolescence has been shaped by recent events, touching on themes such as diversity, tolerance, empathy, and respect. Through the various characters and their distinctive traits, the book presents a framework for young readers to reflect on how values show up in everyday interactions and group dynamics. The aim is to foster a classroom environment where every student feels seen and heard, and where differences become a source of strength rather than conflict.
Professor Aulatriste strives to be a respectful resource for the entire education community. The initial edition sold out, and plans are in motion for a second chapter to be released in the following year, continuing the exploration of emotional literacy and classroom resilience.
writers
Juan Carlos Prieto Martinez is a secondary education teacher and author from Aspe. This book marks his first foray into narrative writing, following two previous poetry collections. Tontheridas (2020) and feeling (2021) showcased his poetic talents and established a voice that resonates with readers who grew up navigating school life.
David Salvador Saez is an early childhood and primary education teacher with training as an educational psychologist, born in Alzira. His passion for teaching and his vocation led him to publish children’s literature. He has contributed to works such as Numeratron’s Odyssey (2020) and Halloween Night (2021), expanding his repertoire into stories that engage young minds through playful science and seasonal adventures.