Illustrator: Sara Palacios
on August 3, 2021
Genres: Picture Book
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
When we visit mi abuelo, I help him sell frutas, singing the names of each fruit as we walk, our footsteps like drumbeats, our hands like maracas, shaking….
The little girl loves visiting her grandfather in Cuba and singing his special songs to sell all kinds of fruit: mango, limón, naranja, piña, and more! Even when they’re apart, grandfather and granddaughter can share rhymes between their countries like un abrazo—a hug—made of words carried on letters that soar across the distance like songbirds.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Song of Frutas is a sweet, heartwarming story about a girl and her abuelo, or grandfather, a street vendor who sells fruit. The story is based on los pregoneros, singing vendors who “walk the streets of Cuba describing the things they sell in poetic ways, to attract customers” (author’s note at end of book). Likewise, Engle tells the story in poetic language, interweaving English and Spanish. As she explains, in her author’s note, “…because that is the way people talk on both shores of the strip of sea that separates Cuban and Cuban American family members.” Her words are complemented by beautiful artwork, by Sara Palacios, that portrays a local community coming together around los pregoneros.
Engle also shares the sorrow of parting with loved ones, when the time comes to return home, to another country. And the concern over whether both countries will remain on friendly terms, so that the girl can visit her abuelo again. Still, she ends on a positive note, affirming the power of words, of poetry, to cross distances and embrace loved ones.
Personal Connection: While I come from another culture, I can relate with the joy of visiting relatives who live in another country, the sorrow of parting, and the hope that we can see each other more often. I also have experience blending English and another language (Mandarin Chinese) to communicate with loved ones.
Song of Frutas is also available in Spanish! For more information, visit the publisher’s website.
Light for All by Margarita EngleIllustrator: Raúl Colón
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on December 7, 2021
Genres: Picture Book
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Discover the myriad contributions that all immigrants have made as they come to join family or start their own lives together in a new country they call home. Coming with their hopes, dreams, and determination, generations of immigrants have made the fabric of this country diverse, vivid, and welcoming. This vibrant and timely celebration demonstrates the thousands of immigrants who built America and the importance of having acceptance and light for everyone.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
In Light for All, Margarita Engle shares the different reasons immigrants come, from all over the world, to the United States. And she touches upon the struggles they face—lack of acceptance, learning a new language, keeping in touch with their roots—as well as some of the bitter history of the United States. But always, her focus is on our shared dreams of liberty and the hope that we can do better.
Throughout this book, Engel repeats the symbolic image of the Statue of Liberty, unifying diverse groups of immigrants who come to the United States for different motivations, yet the same purpose: hope for a better future. Her language is sparse, yet poetic as I’ve come to expect from her work. And in the end, she reveals that we are more alike than we are different.
Discussion Questions
- Have you read one of Margarita Engle’s books? What are your thoughts?
- Think back to a memory you have with a loved one. Compare/contrast it with the experiences of the girl in A Song of Frutas.
- What does liberty and hope mean to you? What similar themes do you see in Light for All?
- How does Light for All inform your understanding of the girl’s relationship with her abuelo in A Song of Frutas?
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