Hispanic Books

 

  

 

Mora, Pat. (1998). Delicious Hullabaloo/Pachanga Deliciosa. Illustrator: Francisco Mora. Arte Publico Press. ISBN: 978-1558852464.

Synopsis:

Pat Mora's whimsical poem, presented bilingually with a Spanish translation by Alba Nora Martínez, tells of birds, armadillos, and other creatures who join in a kitchen one “orange night” to make merry beneath the desert moon.

My Review:

Delicious Hullabaloo is a cute book with illustrations that match the desert imagery. I love that the book is in English and Spanish and includes Spanish words within the English text. Incorporating the music, fruits, and details of a fiesta helps you feel the Spanish connection. The simple details of the stucco walls as the backgrounds of the pages help tie it all together.  One of my favorite pages is when the lizards are stirring the dish and adding the tomatoes, cilantro, and chiles it reminds me of a time I was being taught to make real “Spanish” rice, beans, and salsa. I was excited like the lizards and loved the illustrations as I felt I also had cilantro everywhere.

 Growing up in a Spanish community I found this book enjoyable because it reminded me of the many parties that the community had. Especially when it comes to dancing, the music, setting up the food, and spending time with family and friends. As the story progresses, and the old lizards share stories of the past it speaks to the truth of any get-together that when the older guests get together you get to hear some amazing stories. This book is very relatable and was a joy to read.

Awards/Reviews:

"Poetic Fiesta. Colorful Southwestern motifs add spice to the starlight feast of reveling lizards and armadillos … The fun, lilting text praises hot food, summer nights and good amigos."—Publishers Weekly

"Lime lizards and purple armadillos sashay to the music and rhyming text in this simple story of a desert dinner party. Presented bilingually with a Spanish translation  … this western frolic is winsomely illustrated  … [S]erve this one up with salsa and mariachi music."—Booklist

Connections:

·         Pat Mora offers a teacher's guide with many great ideas and background information. I really love her idea of making salsa with the kids, and she offers ideas up to 3^rd grade. She also has linked websites to research animals, and the desert.

·         Use this book to open up discussions of family heritage, and what is a “fiesta” they may have within their community.

 

Munoz-Ryan, Pam. (2005). Mice and Beans. Illustrator: Joe Cepeda. Scholastic Paperbacks. ISBN: 978-0439701365

Synopsis:

Rosa Maria lives in a small house with a small yard. But she has a big heart, a big family, and more than anything she loves to cook big meals for them.

"When there's room in the heart, there's room in the house, except for a mouse." That's what her mother always said, so for one week as Rosa Maria meticulously prepares for her youngest grandchild's birthday party, she takes extra care in tidying her kitchen. But strangely, important items -- like her wooden spoon, her big bolsa for grocery shopping, and even her mousetraps -- keep disappearing!

 

My Review:

Mice and Beans is such an adorable book with a story and illustrations to delight you. The vibrant painting with the whimsical touch adds to the story and brings it to life. The story is about preparing for a child's birthday and like most parties you need a cake, food, and games but with a true Spanish theme, the grandmother is preparing enchiladas, rice and beans, and a pinata. I love how she states over and over again “No dinner was complete without rice and beans”. In the beginning, I was thinking okay how do mice fit into this story but as it continues Rosa Maria thinks she is busy and forgets to set mouse traps. Yet, she is setting them and slowly items start to disappear. The story continues with preparations for the party and the mice in the background always doing something. You see at the end they were planning and preparing for their party. In the end, they save Rosa Maria, and, in a way, I would say repaying her by making sure the pinata has candy inside it. The story is a wonderful tribute to the Latinx heritage, and the illustrator made sure to include the correct skin color and details to the characters within the story. It is simply a fun read, and I recommend it to all. (I’ve added it to our home library.)

Awards/Reviews:

Children’s Literature Legacy Award Winner

From Publishers Weekly

Muoz's (Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride) rollicking birthday tale stars one Spanish-speaking grandmother, one very long list of party preparations and a band of enterprising mice. Rosa Maria spends all week getting ready for her seven-year-old granddaughter's birthday party, and each day items for the party keep disappearing. So do the mousetraps she sets each evening to ensure the celebration isn't ruined by uninvited guests. Cepeda's (What a Truly Cool World) full-bleed, sun-splashed paintings show with gleeful candor the missing objects being spirited away by resourceful rodents. Shots from the tops of cupboards or two inches off the floor show the busy creatures sneaking back and forth past Rosa Maria's feet as she cooks and cleans in her big earrings and flashy high heels. But the mice redeem themselves by remembering to fill the pi¤ata with candy when it slips the hostess's mind. The dialogue is rich in Spanish phrases ("­Qu‚ boba soy! Silly me"), descriptions of Mexican food and images of a boisterous extended family "Where there's room in the heart, there's room in the house even for a mouse," Rosa Maria concludes. Cepeda wraps up this festive volume by showing how the well-meaning vandals have put their loot to use by throwing a mouse party of their own. Ages 4-7.

From Booklist

Ages 4-7. It's time for Little Catalina's seventh birthday, and Grandmother Rosa Maria is ready to celebrate. She has room in her heart and her casita for nearly everyone on this happy occasion--everyone except mice. Grandmother sees to the details, from food to fun. But she forgets to fill the empty pinata, and when she discovers that mice have filled it for her, she opens a place in her joyful heart just for them. The story is charming, but what makes it special is the quiet authenticity of the Hispanic characterizations. Cepeda's pictures are as good as the story, with bright, funny scenes depicted from human (looking down) and mouse (looking up) points of view. A delightful birthday or anytime book. Kelly Halls

Connections:

-          Readers could find all the missing items in the last pages with the mice party, could go back and find the mice in the background and see what they are taking.

-          You could use this story to talk about our own cultures, and if there are things such as pinatas that are a must.

-          Write the story from the Mice's point of view.

-          Read other books by Pat Munoz

Soto, Gary. 1993. Too Many Tamales. Illustrator: Ed Martinez. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 978-0399221460

Synopsis:

This modern classic celebrates the tradition of tamales and family bonding at Christmas.

Christmas Eve started so perfectly for Maria. Snow had fallen and the streets glittered. Maria's favorite cousins were coming over and she got to help make the tamales for Christmas dinner. It was almost too good to be true when her mother left the kitchen for a moment and Maria got to try on her beautiful diamond ring . . .

This is the story of a treasure thought to be lost in a batch of tamales; of a desperate and funny attempt by Maria and her cousins to eat their way out of trouble; and the warm way a family pulls together to make it a perfect Christmas after all.

My Review:

 I love this book from the story to the illustrations it is now one of my favorite Christmas books. The accuracy of coming together to make tamales at Christmas time, and how you as a child want to be like the adults but are also excited to see your cousins is depicted in this story so well. I truly feel this book should be in all classrooms and children's libraries because it allows Latinx children to feel seen. It is a great way to share what other cultures may do differently at holiday times yet see the similarities as well. I loved how this book reminded me of the days when I was a child excited to play with my cousins and all the aunts cooking and chit-chatting in the other room. I loved the memories this book brought even those of trying to fix a situation so our parents wouldn’t find out. This illustrator did an amazing job capturing the characters, and small things within the pictures from the masa flour bag to the children's facial expressions full of emotions. Again, I loved this book and I know you will too.

Awards/Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

Snow is falling, preparations for a family feast are underway and the air is thick with excitement. Maria is making tamales, kneading the masa and feeling grown-up. All she wants is a chance to wear her mother's diamond ring, which sparkles temptingly on the kitchen counter. When her mother steps away, Maria seizes her opportunity and dons the ring, then carries on with her work. Only later, when the tamales are cooled and a circle of cousins gathered, does Maria remember the diamond. She and the cousins search every tamale--with their teeth. Of course the ring turns out to be safely on Mom's finger. Soto, noted for such fiction as Baseball in April , confers some pleasing touches--a tear on Maria's finger resembles a diamond; he allows the celebrants a Hispanic identity without making it the main focus of the text--but overall the plot is too sentimental (and owes a major debt to an I Love Lucy episode). Martinez's sensuous oil paintings in deep earth tones conjure up a sense of family unity and the warmth of holidays. The children's expressions are deftly rendered--especially when they are faced with a second batch of tamales. Ages 4-8.

Connections:

-          Learning about other cultures during holidays.

-          Making predictions as you read about the ring.

-          Make tamales.

-          Share a time you tried to fix something before getting caught.

 

Garcia McCall, Guadalupe. 2013. Under the Mesquite. Lee & Low Books. ISBN: 978-1600604294.

Synopsis:

As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead-and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script.

In the midst of juggling life as a high school student, testing her wings as an actress, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, Lupita desperately wants to support Mami in whatever way she can. While her father stays with Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she escapes the chaos of home by writing in the shade of a mesquite tree. Overwhelmed by change and loss, she takes refuge in the healing power of words.

Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey is both heart-wrenching and hopeful. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about the testing of family bonds, the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience, and the kind of love that cannot be uprooted.

 

My Review:

 Well, where to begin with this book- after a classmate recommended this book I had to get it right away, and I am glad I did. Even though I cried within the first chapter I am glad I went ahead and read this book. I read some of the book and listened to some of it on audibles. This book is a very emotional read and even if you are not a poetry fan like me I think you will really enjoy this book. There are so many intertwining elements in this story that you will find something to relate to. For me the beginning got me right away as my mother passed away this last year and reading about how she snuck into her mothers’ closet for the purse just got me. The way she talked about each item inside spoke to me as I still have my mother's purse as she left it. The way she describes the look her mother gets when the dad is mentioned or sneaks up behind her is another pull at my heartstrings as it reminds me of my parents. So, as you see just from the beginning this book is full of so much emotion. As you journey through with Lupita on this journey of surviving growing up and finding yourself, to having to deal and cope with hardships at a young age, but to continue and to still dream is what you experience as you read this book. To add to the already stressful situation of growing up and dealing with loss you also see and feel what it is like for Lupita as a Mexican American. To see how she finds herself within her large family and finds the strength to take care of her family while her mother is fighting to survive is all very heart-wrenching. I truly recommend this book to all and if you can also listen to the author read it herself, I think it pulls at you even more.

Awards/Reviews:

Pura Belpré Author Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA)

2012 William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist

2013 Tomas Rivera Children’s Book Award

 

* "A promising, deeply felt debut." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Like the mesquite tree of the title, Lupita is sturdy and able to survive harsh climates with great potential for recovering from stress. . . The close-knit family relationships, especially Mami and Lupita's, are vividly portrayed, as is the healing comfort Lupita finds in words, whether written in her notebooks or performed onstage." -- Booklist

"Powerful and tremendously honest. . . The titular mesquite tree serves as both a literal reference to the tree that grows among her mother's rose bushes and a metaphor for the tree's renowned adaptability and ability to reach out to find sustenance. This is ultimately a coming-of-age story of a girl who manages to build on her strengths as she copes with emotional hardship, and McCall's is a fresh new voice in Latino/a writing." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"This book will appeal to many teens for different reasons, whether they have dealt with the loss of a loved one, aspire to write and act, are growing up Mexican American, or seeking their own identity amid a large family. Bravo to McCall for a beautiful first effort." -- School Library Journal

 

Connections:

-          Learn more about the author.

-          Read other books by the author. (I know I will be)

-          Guadalupe McCall and Lee and Low offer a teacher's guide with many ideas and information.