A little girl tells how her grandmother makes special teas and warm drinks for her and her little brother when they are not feeling well.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 2
My Nana’s Remedies/Los Remedios De Mi Nana
Grandparents
Chiles For Benito / Chiles Para Benito
This charming bilingual fable explains the origins of the all-important chile Chiles ristras adorn the kitchen and dishes all over New Mexico. In the winter, when the nights grow longer and the winds blow stronger, chiles season meats and stews bringing New Mexico spice to every hungry taste bud. But chiles didn’t always grow in New Mexico, and Ana Baca tells a special fable about Benito and the chiles that crawled all over his family’s simple homestead. Benito’s mother sends him to the country fair in the hopes of their cow winning the first place prize. This would give them money to buy some seeds for the crop, but the cow misbehaves and they must leave the fair. Suddenly, Benito is stopped by a mysterious man with a peculiar bird on his shoulder. The man offers Benito some powerful seeds in exchange for his cow, which Benito quickly accepts. But when only uncontrollable weeds grow from the ground, Benito begins to feel foolish. The neighboring farmers begin to complain that the relentless weeds are killing their crop. How will the community survive? Will the rapidly growing weeds ever bear fruit for Benito?
Abuelita Full Of Life/Abuelita Llena De Vida
Jose is not sure what to expect when his grandmother from Mexico moves in…except that he will certainly have to change his ways. What he discovers is that he doesn’t mind one bit. Abuelita is full of surprises! She is full of life!
Little Mama Forgets (Melanie Kroupa Books)
Every morning, Lucy tiptoes into her grandmother’s room to
wake her with a gentle tickle. Little Mamá always remembers to
tickle Lucy right back! But Lucy knows there are things her
abuelita sometimes forgets – like the way to the park or how to
tie her shoes. “Two long bunny ears like this,” Lucy shows her.
Still, there’s much that Little Mamá remembers and shares: how
to skip and dance, stories from Mexico, and plenty of hugs and
kisses.
wake her with a gentle tickle. Little Mamá always remembers to
tickle Lucy right back! But Lucy knows there are things her
abuelita sometimes forgets – like the way to the park or how to
tie her shoes. “Two long bunny ears like this,” Lucy shows her.
Still, there’s much that Little Mamá remembers and shares: how
to skip and dance, stories from Mexico, and plenty of hugs and
kisses.
A lyrical text with Spanish words and phrases and vibrant art
spiced with cultural details capture the give-and-take in this
lively Hispanic family and celebrate the special bonds that exist
between young and old.
A Christmas Surprise For Chabelita
Young Chabelita must stay with her grandparents while her mother lives in a distant town. When Chabelita recites her mother’s favorite poem at her school’s Christmas pageant, she receives a special Christmas surprise. Argentina Palacios is a noted folklorist and Latin American storyteller.
My Elephant
My Ocean: A Novel of Cuba
After his grandparents emigrate, 12-year-old Enrique heads for the ocean, a source of comfort and solace. Why did they flee Cuba, leaving Enrique and his mother behind? Should they go, too? If not, will they, like so many others, be seen as disloyal? The sea has no answers for the boy. As the years pass, Enrique is invited to become a Pioneer, a special honor that bodes well for his future, but it means he’s forbidden from reading the letters his grandparents send home. Enrique wants to belong, to show that he’s deserving of the honor, and once again, he seeks the ocean’s solace. Once again, the ocean has no easy answers. Still, life goes on. There are games with his friends, swimming expeditions, girls to hang out with. And always, there’s the ocean, a place he can go in good times and bad as he tries to make sense of what the future holds for him, his family, and many other Cubans.
Grandma And Me At The Flea / Los Meros Meros Remateros
Every Sunday Juanito helps his grandmother sell old clothes at the flea market. Romping from booth to booth among the rainbow-colored tents under the sun, Juanito and his friends fulfill Grandma’s vision of the flea market as a sharing community of friendly give and take. With every trade and barter, Juanito learns firsthand what it means to be a true rematero — a flea marketeer — and discovers that the value of community can never be measured in dollars.
Featured in Volume I, Issue 3 of WOW Review.
Estrellita en la ciudad grande / Estrellita in the Big City
Relates, in Spanish and English, a telephone conversation in which young Estrellita, who has recently moved to Brooklyn, New York, tells her grandmother, who still lives in Puerto Rico, all about her adventures in and near Manhattan.
Text in English and Spanish.
Memories of Babi
Piri is a city girl, but every year she goes to visit her grandmother Babi on her farm in the Ukrainian village of Komjaty. There is a lot that Piri finds strange, even scary, in Komjaty, such as the ghost in the form of a rooster who supposedly haunts the cemetery! But Piri loves country life: making corn bread, eating plums right off the tree, venturing out with her grandmother in the early morning to hunt for mushrooms. And during her time with Babi, Piri learns lessons that will stay with her all of her life, about the importance of honest hard work, of caring for the less fortunate, and of having the courage to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. In these nine stories, Aranka Siegal paints a tender portrait of the love between a grandmother and granddaughter, inspired by her own experiences with her grandmother.