Aponte, C. (2019). Across the bay. Penguin Workshop.
Overview
Carlitos lives in a happy home with his mother, his abuela, and coco the cat. Life in his hometown is cozy as can be, but the call of the capital city pulls Carlitos across the bay in search for his father.
Evaluation
Aponte's illustration style is delightful combined with brilliant colors that makes each page visually appealing. The author also highlights the ancient city and their people in his illustrations. Aponte writes a touching tale which makes the storyline real and heartfelt.
Booklist (August 2019 (Vol. 115, No. 22))
Horn Book Magazine (January/February, 2020)
Aponte explores a young child's physical and emotional journey coping with his father's absence from his life and learning to love all that is around him. Carlitos lives with his mother, grandmother, and cat in Cataño, a town just across the bay from Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now and then, in the streets or at the barbershop, Carlitos notices that there's something different about his family. From his mother, the young boy learns that his father lives across the bay. Sometimes things don't work out. Carlitos decides to hop onto the ferry and travel to Old San Juan with a photo of his dad and the hope of finding him. Through strikingly colorful and vibrant illustrations, Aponte captures the essence of Old San Juan: while Carlitos asks around for his father, readers can see such typical local images as a shaved-ice vendor, a group of cats, old men playing dominoes, the traditional San Sebastián street festival, and people flying kites at El Morro fort. This tale, in which a young boy walks around by himself without anyone knowing, asking, or wondering where his supervising adults are, is based on Aponte's childhood memories of a particular time and place. A lively and honest story about filling voids and exploring what defines a family as well as a love letter to a childhood home. Sujei Lugo January/February 2020 p.63
Aponte explores a young child's physical and emotional journey coping with his father's absence from his life and learning to love all that is around him. Carlitos lives with his mother, grandmother, and cat in Cataño, a town just across the bay from Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now and then, in the streets or at the barbershop, Carlitos notices that there's something different about his family. From his mother, the young boy learns that his father lives across the bay. Sometimes things don't work out. Carlitos decides to hop onto the ferry and travel to Old San Juan with a photo of his dad and the hope of finding him. Through strikingly colorful and vibrant illustrations, Aponte captures the essence of Old San Juan: while Carlitos asks around for his father, readers can see such typical local images as a shaved-ice vendor, a group of cats, old men playing dominoes, the traditional San Sebastián street festival, and people flying kites at El Morro fort. This tale, in which a young boy walks around by himself without anyone knowing, asking, or wondering where his supervising adults are, is based on Aponte's childhood memories of a particular time and place. A lively and honest story about filling voids and exploring what defines a family as well as a love letter to a childhood home. Sujei Lugo January/February 2020 p.63
Other Books Written by Carlos Aponte
A Season to Bee: a Stylish Book of Colors
Deedy, C. A. (2007). Martina the beautiful cockroach: a Cuban folktale. Peachtree Publishers.
Overview
A humorous retelling of a Cuban folktale in which a cockroach interviews her suitors in order to decide whom to marry.
Evaluation
This story will change your views about how you think about a cockroach. The illustrations are beautiful, colorful, and filled with clever details. The few Cuban colloquialisms do not interfere with your understanding of the story. The message of the story teaches you what qualities you should look for in choosing a partner and what you should not accept. The author takes a traditional tale with similar themes and intertwines it with her own memories. Great story to be retold and adapted to fit the wide range of cultures and individual experiences. With this text, students can practice predicting, asking questions, story elements, main idea and details, summary, and facts and opinions.
Booklist (October 1, 2007 (Vol. 104, No. 3))Grades K-3. Martina’s Cuban grandmother advises lovely cockroach Martina to spill coffee on suitors to see examples of their personality. Martina is reluctant at first, but the test proves abuela’s point: rooster Don Gallo is cocky; pig Don Cerdo is boorish; and lizard Don Lagarto is cold-blooded. Martina is exasperated until abuela points out overlooked suitor Perez the mouse. Amid compliments and blushes, Perez splashes café cubano onto Martina’s shoes. How did you know about the Coffee Test? she asks in surprise. Well, mi amor, my love . . . I too have a Cuban grandmother. Deedy’s masterful retelling of this Latino folktale has a rollicking voice imbued with sly tongue-in-cheek humor. The acrylic illustrations, in a hyperrealistic style reminiscent of a softer William Joyce, are rendered in a vivid tropical palette. Shifting perspectives and points of view add vitality to the compositions, and facial expressions reveal both emotions and character traits. A scattering of Spanish words adds zest to this fine read-aloud. Unfortunately, source notes are noticeably absent.
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2008)
Martina, a lovely green Cuban cockroach, follows her grandmother's advice and applies the coffee test to all her prospective husbands: when a suitor comes calling, she spills coffee on his shoes and quickly discovers how he'll behave when angry. Humorous wordplay adds spice to this (unsourced) retelling, while the entertaining acrylic illustrations portray the animals' foibles with gusto. Concurrently published in Spanish.
Martina, a lovely green Cuban cockroach, follows her grandmother's advice and applies the coffee test to all her prospective husbands: when a suitor comes calling, she spills coffee on his shoes and quickly discovers how he'll behave when angry. Humorous wordplay adds spice to this (unsourced) retelling, while the entertaining acrylic illustrations portray the animals' foibles with gusto. Concurrently published in Spanish.
Other Books Written by Carmen Agra Deedy
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: a Dickens of a Tale
Rita & Ralph's Rotten Day
The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!
Denise, A. A. (2019). Planting stories: the life of librarian and storyteller Pura Belpre. HarperCollins.
Overview
An illustrated biography of the life of Pura Belpre the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.
Evaluation
Inspiring story with beautiful and detailed illustrations. The author provides a note on the back two pages that will leave you with chills going down your body. This book tells the story of a woman who shared her own personal experiences which ended up making a difference in the lives of everyone she met. The author includes Spanish vocabulary, but the context and imagery helps the reader to understand even if you don't have knowledge of the language. With this text, students can practice figurative language and context clues.
Booklist (November 15, 2018 (Vol. 115, No. 6))Grades K-3. Denise and Escobar pay tribute to the legacy of librarian Pura Belpré in this vibrant picture-book biography. Adults familiar with Belpré’s story will immediately compare this book to The Storyteller’s Candle (2008), by Lucía González, but this version adds a contemporary feel through the brilliantly detailed, brightly colored, whimsical illustrations and smoothly integrated linguistic code-switching. Here readers watch as Pura arrives in New York in 1921, just for a visit, filled with the stories her abuela told her in Puerto Rico. She stays, however, and finds work as a seamstress but yearns to do something else. As luck would have it, her chance comes when the public library needs a bilingual assistant. Thus begins Pura Belpré’s career as the storyteller with puppets and a candle, around whose feet children sat listening to stories of Puerto Rico, including ones Pura writes herself. Planting Stories is a glossy immigration tale of dreams coming true, and the lyrical language lends itself to being read aloud.
Kirkus Reviews (November 1, 2018)
A warm introduction to Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in the New York Public Library. In 1921, Belpré left her island home of Puerto Rico for New York City. There, she started work as a bilingual assistant in the public library. But where were the stories of her native land? “How lucky for the library that Pura has story seeds ready to plant and grow.” Eventually, not only did Belpré hold a popular bilingual story program, but also, finding there were no books available for children in Spanish, she wrote them. Traveling “from branch to branch, classroom to classroom, to churches and community centers,” Belpré planted “her story seeds in the hearts and minds of children new to this island who wish to remember la lengua y los colores of home.” Belpré’s story is told in rhythmic language with a good dose of (unitalicized) Spanish sprinkled throughout. Escobar’s vibrant illustrations are filled with details that help bring to life the story of this remarkable librarian. Belpré is portrayed with light brown skin. A closing note explains that today, the American Library Association honors her by presenting an annual award that bears her name to a Latinx writer and illustrator whose works celebrate the Latino cultural experience. Read together with The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos, by Lucía González and illustrated by Lulu Delacre (2008). In Belpré, children will find an affirmation of the importance of seeing their own culture in books. (bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography.
Other Books Written by Anika Denise
The Love Letter
Monster Trucks
Baking Day at Grandma's
Booklist (June 1, 2019 (Vol. 115, No. 19))
Engle, M. (2019). Dancing hands. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Overview
Tells the story of Teresa Carreno, a child prodigy who played the piano for Abraham Lincoln.
Evaluation
The story conveys the Venezuelan and American history in a way that children will understand. Great book to share with children and discussing the many gifts we have to offer and how we can use our gifts to spread light in the darkest moments. Talks about the perseverance a young girl had to go through to learn how to play the piano and making the music behave as she imagined it should sound. The illustrations are beautiful with a watercolor effect. Summarizing, descriptive language, main idea and details are some of the skills that can be covered using this text.
Grades 1-3. Engle and López pair up again to bring equality to the arts in this picture-book biography of pianist and composer Teresa Carreño. More detailed than their Pura Belpré Honor Book, Drum Dream Girl (2015), the lyrical, imagery-rich text alternates between prose and free verse as it describes Teresa’s early childhood in Venezuela in the mid-1800s. When a revolution tears through the country, the young prodigy and her family move to New York, where she feels like an oddity and where a civil war also wreaks havoc. Concerts around the world, however, spare the newly proclaimed “Piano Girl” from much of this pain. An invitation from the White House to play for the grieving President Lincoln and his family almost turns disastrous due to a poorly tuned piano, but Teresa’s perseverance saves the evening in the story’s climax. Patterned mixed-media illustrations use color to evoke the lushness of Venezuela, the darkness of war, and the beauty of music. Concluding with a historical note, the biography’s vibrant images and language form a melodious composition.
Horn Book Guide starred (Fall 2019)
Teresa Carreño (1853–1917) learned to play piano early in life. When she was eight, her family fled war-torn Venezuela and moved to New York, where she became a well-known child prodigy. Her status provided her with the extraordinary chance to play for President Lincoln, still grieving his young son's death. Engle's writing shines; López's vivid illustrations evoke characters and historical settings with absorbing detail. Appended with a brief historical note.
Other Books Written by Margarita Engle
The Poet Slave of Cuba: a Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music
The Firefly Letters: a Suffragette's Journey to Cuba
Medina, M. (2017). Mango, abuela, and me. Candlewick.
Overview
Ovver
Mia's Abuela has left her sunny house with parrots and palm trees to live with Mia and her parents in the city. The night she arrives, Mia tries to share her favorite book with Abuela before they go to sleep and discovers that Abuela can't read the words inside. This text is great to cover problem and solution with students.
Evaluation
A story that many children can relate to with communicating with family members. A heartfelt story about a girl and grandmother developing a warm, loving relationship while learning new things. Great book for identifying the problem and solution in a realistic story. The illustrations depict the ups and downs that Mia and her Abuela experienced as they tried to communicate with one another as well as the small and comfortable apartment in their cheery neighborhood.
Grades 1-3. Mia is shy about meeting her grandmother, who is moving in with her from the faraway tropics. Abuela speaks Spanish and “can’t unlock the English words,” and Mia’s español is not good enough to bridge the divide they both feel. Soon they find ways of getting to know each other—walking to the park, rolling masa (dough) for meat pies—but it’s not enough. Mia decides to teach Abuela English by labeling everything in the house (even the hamster!), and Abuela teaches Mia Spanish in return. One day Mia gives her grandmother a pet parrot, which they name Mango, and he becomes their student—trilingual in English, Spanish, and parrot! Pura Belpré Award winner Medina (Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, 2013) and Pura Belpré honoree Dominguez (Maria Had a Little Llama, 2013) have created a poignant tale of intergenerational connection, transition, and patience. The language and vivid illustrations (a colorful blend of ink, gouache, and marker) are infused with warmth and expression, perfectly complementing the story’s tone. Abuela’s adjustment to her new home is sensitively portrayed as she and Mia bond over their different cultures and shared heritage. Pair with Matt de la Peña’s Last Stop on Market Street (2015) for another look at urban multiculturalism. Heartfelt, layered, and beautiful—a must for library collections.
Horn Book Guide starred (Spring 2016)
Mia worries when her "far-away grandmother" arrives. Abuela doesn't speak English, and Mia's "espaqol is not good enough to tell her the things an abuela should know." A pet-store parrot named Mango allows Mia and her abuela to truly connect. This heartwarming story about finding common ground and adapting to change is accompanied by illustrations that capture the characters' emotions and moods.
Other Books Written by Meg Medina
Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away
Merci Suarez Changes Gears
The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind
Overview
A retelling of the Puerto Rican folktale in which a boy named Juan Bobo tries to do exactly as his mother tells him, but keeps getting things all wrong.
Evaluation
A great story that any child can relate to when trying so hard to do something, but fail or make a bigger mess along the way. The misjudgments throughout the story keep the reader engaged. The illustrations are full page and very colorful which provide snippets of Puerto Rico. The author includes a glossary at the end of the story with the pronunciation and meaning of the Spanish vocabulary used throughout the book.
Ages 3-8. In this Puerto Rican parallel to Lazy Jack, Juan Bobo has the same problems with coins, milk, cheese, and other payments as his English counterpart. When Juan makes the rich girl laugh, however, her father repays him with a ham every Sunday. This altered ending fits the setting but occurs abruptly. Otherwise, the funny, well-paced retelling smoothly incorporates Spanish words and phrases. Most are easily understood in context, but an appended glossary provides pronunciations as well as definitions. An author's note adds cultural background about Juan Bobo but cites no specific source for the story. Using bold, bright Caribbean colors, Cepeda's oil paintings amplify Juan's silliness and charm. Brush strokes add texture, and background details establish the Puerto Rican setting. An obvious candidate for multicultural units, this will be popular wherever children love to laugh.
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2001)
Juan Bobo (Simple John) sets out to find a job--first with the farmer, then with the grocer. Despite his mother's instructions, the silly peasant boy gets everything wrong and loses his coins and food on the way home every day. But his antics, comically illustrated, are rewarded when he makes an ill rich girl laugh. An author's note gives information about this popular Puerto Rican folktale character. A pronunciation guide is included. Glos.
Other Books Written by Marisa Montes
Los Gatos Black on Halloween
Morales, Y. (2018). Dreamers. Neal Porter Books.
Overview
An illustrated picture book biography in which the author tells her own immigration story.
Evaluation
The story of immigration is told in short snippets with detailed artwork on each page. Great read aloud for understanding how it feels to come to a strange culture and not being able to speak the same language as the native people and how books helped find comfort. Also, great to use with older students in breaking down the figurative language used throughout the story. The last few pages include the author's immigration story in more detail, books that inspired her, and how she made the book. With this text, students can practice identifying the main idea and details, summarizing, author's message, and comparing and contrasting.
Preschool-Grade 2. Yuyi Morales and her son are dreamers—the books they read allow them to imagine a new life in a new country that doesn’t always welcome them. Based on her own immigration tale, the multi-award-winning Morales’ newest picture book recounts the challenges and wonders of living in a new country. She and her son experience discrimination because they don’t always know the rules and customs of their new home. English becomes a barrier that makes it difficult for them to fully comprehend the world around them. Despite it all, Morales and her son find hope in the books of their local library, and their voracious reading leads them to create their own books. The narrative text is poetic and full of emotion. The English version is sprinkled with Spanish words like migrantes, caminantes, and amor, which monolingual readers will understand from the context of the story. In classic Morales style, the mixed-media illustrations are breathtaking, created through painting, drawing, photography, and embroidery. The joyous imagination and intricacy of each illustration will make readers of all ages explore them further. The pages with the library, for example, depict the covers of other significant Latinx children’s books like Carmen Lomas Garza’s In My Family / En mi familia (2000) and Jorge Argueta’s A Movie in My Pillow / Una pelicula en mi almohada (2001). This rich offering launches the new Neal Porter Books imprint and can be paired with Duncan Tonatiuh’s Undocumented: A Worker’s Fight (2018) for its focus on the Latinx immigrant experience.
Horn Book Guide starred (Spring 2019)
Two "migrantes," a mother and her infant son, arrive on "the other side." Here they meet cultural challenges (customs, language) that are resolved at the San Francisco Public Library, with its "unimaginable" wealth of books that offer paths to literacy, community, even a career. Occasional Spanish words enrich the succinct, gently poetic text, illustrated with rich and vibrant pen-and-ink, acrylic, and collage art. Back matter sets the narrative in personal and historical context. Concurrently published in Spanish as Soqadores.
Other Books Written by Yuyi Morales
Just in Case: a Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet book
Just a Minute: a Trickster Tale and Counting Book
Nino Wrestles the World
Soto, G. (2000). Chato and the party animals. Puffin Books.
Overview
Chato decides to throw a "pachanga" for his friend Novio Boy, who has never had a birthday party.
Evaluation
The animals take on the characteristics of people living in the city neighborhood. The illustrations are a two-page spread with the text written only on the white parts of each page. The author includes a glossary at the front of the book to help with the understanding of the Spanish vocabulary used throughout the story. The pictures depict the differences in the characters, how it's okay, and that everyone can still be friends. Great message of the value of friendship.
Last seen in Chato's Kitchen, Chato the cat here learns that his best friend has never had a birthday party. Chato plans a pachanga [party] that would be absolutely lo mejor [the best]-if only he had remembered to invite the guest of honor. Ages 4-up. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal (July 2000)
K-Gr 3-In this sequel to Chato's Kitchen (Putnam, 1995), the ebullient, jazzy, party-loving homecat decides to throw a surprise birthday bash for his best friend, Novio Boy, who was raised in the pound and has never had a party. Buying the provisions, inviting his friends, decorating, arranging for music-Chato thinks he has seen to everything. The guests begin to arrive and one dog raises a crucial question: "Where's the birthday cat?" Aghast, Chato realizes that he neglected to invite Novio Boy and organizes a search, which proves fruitless. The party turns wake as, certain that Novio Boy has met an untimely end, all the animals remember his good qualities and grieve. In the midst of this, who should turn up but the guest of honor with some new friends in tow. With double reason to celebrate, the party is a wild success. Rollicking language-a completely integrated and poetic combination of barrio slang, Spanish, and colloquial English-carries the story along. Guevara's lively acrylic-on-scratchboard illustrations have a verve and style that will make readers long to join the fun. A glossary of Spanish words preceding the text neatly removes any mystery, rendering this joyous celebration of friendship not only understandable but irresistible.-Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Other Books Written by Gary Soto
Too Many Tamales
Buried Onion
Accidental Love
Tonatiuh, D. (2016). The princess and the warrior. Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Overview
Princess Izta had many wealthy suitors, but dismissed them all. When a mere warrior, Popoca, promised to be true to her and stay always by her side, Izta fell in love. The emperor promised Popoca if he could defeat their enemy Jaguar Claw, then Popoca and Izta could wed. When Popoca was near to defeating Jaguar Claw, his opponent sent a messenger to Izta saying Popoca was dead. Izta fell into a deep sleep and, upon his return, even Popoca could not wake her. As promised Popoca stayed by her side.
Evaluation
The illustrations are beautiful and depict the ancient storytellers. The author leaves you wanting to learn more about this ancient tale and the culture. The story reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, but with a twist. Even though the characters go to battle, the author does not include violent scenes. The author includes their personal note as well as a glossary with the Nahuatl pronunciation and definition. With this text, students are able to practice the skills of summarization, cause and effect, identifying main idea and details, and author's purpose.
Grades K-3. Sibert-winning Tonatiuh (Funny Bones, 2015) brings to his books a richness in text and illustration, and this retelling of a Mexican legend is no exception. Two great volcanoes, Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, stand outside of today’s Mexico City and have been the inspiration for many folktales and origin stories. Using stylized images (based on several ancient Mixtec codices), Tonatiuh reminds us of the highly developed cultures that came up with these stories. This particular myth centers on a great love, a great warrior, and a great deceit. A beautiful princess falls in love with a soldier, Popoca, to her father’s dismay. The emperor tells Popoca that if he defeats the village’s greatest enemy, he can marry the princess. Popoca is on the brink of success, when treachery and miscommunication leads to tragedy. A glossary of the many Nahuatl words used in the text (some of which have become part of spoken Spanish today) is included, and the illustrations are compelling and dramatic in the contrast of lights and darks. Tonatiuh’s characteristic round heads and figures in profile add a classic element (be sure to look under the book jacket for two powerful images). The appealing story, compelling illustrations, and celebration of the Aztec culture make this a sure thing for those looking for a story, while an extensive author’s note goes a step beyond, adding to the impact of the tale with a great deal of historical and cultural information.
Horn Book Guide starred (Spring 2017)
Returning from battle to find his love, Princess Izta, in a deep sleep, warrior Popoca takes Izta to a mountain top. Soon, "where once there was a princess with her true love by her side, two volcanoes emerged." Tonatiuh's mixed-media art, an homage to the Mixtec codices, is instantly recognizable; with its assured storytelling, this adapted pourquoi story may be his best yet. Bib., glos.
Other Books Written by Duncan Tonatiuh
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation
Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras
Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: a Migrant's Tale
Velasquez, E. (2010). Grandma's gift. Walker & Company.
Overview
The author describes Christmas at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem the year she introduced him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Diego Velazquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja, which has had a profound and lasting effect on him.
Evaluation
Wonderful story about traditions and the importance of passing those on from generation to generation to keep the family traditions alive. Beautiful story about the relationship between the little boy and his grandmother. The illustrations are lovely and realistic. The author includes their personal note at the end of the book.
Grades 1-3. In this prequel to Grandma’s Records (2001), Eric spends his winter break with his Puerto Rican grandmother in her apartment in New York City’s El Barrio. Together, they shop, cook traditional dishes such as pasteles, and complete Eric’s homework assignment: to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and view Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece Juan de Pareja. The pleasing, realistic oil paintings include a well-done replica of the famous painting. Those who appreciated the personal connections between grandmother and grandson in the earlier book will again be satisfied with this story, which incorporates Spanish phrases in the long, descriptive text.
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2011)
In this story based on his childhood, Velasquez describes a memorable first visit with his grandmother to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There they see a portrait that serves as young Eric's inspiration for an artistic career. Realistic-looking oil paintings show scenes of New York, from the barrio's markets, as Grandma buys ingredients for a Christmas feast, to the staid museum.
Other Books Written by Eric Velasquez
Octopus Stew
Looking for Bongo
Grandma's Records
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