The author remembers the day in which the Spirit of the Corn visited the restaurant that his family owned in El Salvador. The narration is full of suspense and impregnated with the delicious scents that surrounded the kitchen and that remain intact in the memory and the heart of the author from his childhood.
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
La Isla
When Rosalba and Abuela travel to la isla, the island where Abuela grew up, Rosalba meets Abuela’s son, Fernando, and his family and samples the sights of the island. By the creators of Abuela.
Las Abuelas De Liliana: Spanish Hardcover Edition Of Liliana’s Grandmothers (Spanish Edition)
A gentle, loving look at grandmothers. In a book that will be officially published on Grandparents’ Day, a charming girl named Liliana describes how differently her grandmothers live their lives. Mima lives in New England, does yoga exercises, and likes crossword puzzles, for example. The other grandmother, Mama Gabina, lives in South America, enjoys gardening, and likes to dance around the house. The meals they cook are different, the stories they tell are different, but one thing about them is the same: they both love their granddaughter. And Liliana adores them. Leyla Torres’s watercolors show all the warmth and homeyness that are intrinsic in special family relationships.
The Empanadas That Abuela Made/Las Empanadas Que Hacia La Abuela
A sweet bilingual story about a family tradition. Baking is always a treat, particularly when you throw family and fun into the mix. In this whimsical look at the making of empanadas, popular children’s author Gonzales Bertrand serves up the festive fun of a family’s effort to concoct the delicious pastries. In the tradition of popular rhymes like “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” the laughter and fun rise from page to page. The Empanadas that Abuela Made/Las empanadas que Abuela hacía is filled with humorous cooks and family: Abuela, Abuelo, the cousins, aunts, uncles, and even the family dog join the parade of fluttering flour and swirling sugar. Alex Pardo de Lange fills the pages with offbeat illustrations of blankets of dough and dancing rolling pins.
Migrant Worker: A Boy from the Rio Grande Valley
Describes the way of life of Mexican American families and their children who work as migrant agricultural laborers in Texas.
The Dream on Blanca’s Wall/El Sueno Pegado En La Pared De Blanca: Poems in English and Spanish/Poemas En Ingles Y Espanol
Offers a collection of poems in English and Spanish that tell of a young Mexican-American girl’s dream to overcome her family difficulties and economic hardships in order for her to achieve her goal of becoming a teacher.
Magic Windows / Ventanas Mágicas
In Spanish and English, Carmen Lomas Garza portrays her family’s Mexican customs and her life as an artist, and the legends of her Aztec past through cut-paper work (papel picado).
Mice and Beans
In this tale Rosa Maria spends the week getting ready for her granddaughter’s birthday party and trying to avoid attracting mice–unaware that the mice in her walls are preparing for a party of their own.
Pablo’s Tree
Each year on his birthday, a young Mexican American boy looks forward to seeing how his grandfather has decorated the tree he planted on the day the boy was adopted.
Just In Case: A Trickster Tale And Spanish Alphabet Book
TWO-TIME PURA BELPRÉ WINNER Yuyi Morales takes us on a new journey with Señor Calvera, the skeleton from Day of the Dead celebrations. Señor Calvera is worried. He can’t figure out what to give Grandma Beetle for her birthday. Misunderstanding the advice of Zelmiro the Ghost, Señor Calvera decides not to get her one gift, but instead one gift for every letter of the alphabet, just in case. Una Acordéon: An accordion for her to dance to. Bigotes: A mustache because she has none. Cosquillas: Tickles to make her laugh…only to find out at the end of the alphabet that the best gift of all is seeing her friends. Morales’s art glows in this heart-warming original tale with folklore themes, a companion book to her Pura Belpré-winning JUST A MINUTE.