As Mario and his Papa travel from El Salvador to the United States to be reunited with Mama, Mario’s wonderful new shoes help to distract him from the long and difficult journey.
- ISBN: 9781590783856
- Author: Lainez, Rene Colato
- Illustrator: Broeck, Fabricio Vanden
- Published: 2010 , Boyds Mills Press
- Themes: emigrants-immigrants, father and son, Journey, reunion, Travel
- Descriptors: El Salvador, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction, United States
- No. of pages: 32
My Shoes and I is a wonderful story of a boy and his shoes. I read this book to my third grade students and loved that Mario would always speak to his shoes. My students do not know Spanish, so it was fun trying to figure out what Mario was saying to his shoes when he said “Sana, sana, colita de rana”. Once Mario reached the United States my students were happy that his shoes made it too. My students did not know what Mario was saying to his shoes but they knew it was words of encouragement because the whole book focused around working through the hard times to make it to the United States to be with his mother.
My Shoes and I follows Mario and his father on their harrowing journey from El Salvador to the United States. Mario and his shoes trek through cities, rivers, and over mountains determined to be reunited with Mama. After each discouraging event, Mario recites a familiar and reassuring nursery rhyme. Mario’s shoes provide him the confidence and comfort which is most often times delegated to a well loved blanket or stuffed animal, each item eventually showing signs of use.
Fabricio Vanden Broeck’s illustrations are colorful and bold yet leave an impression of being weathered which may allude to the struggles and adversity that Mario and his father faced during their journey north.