Arthur Dorros invites the readers of this book to join Rosalba and her grandmother on a magical journey, as they fly over the streets, sights, and people of Manhattan in New York City. The story is narrated in English and sprinkled with Spanish phrases and words. The author uses the Spanish language to lend authenticity to his story, and really gives the readers a chance to experience the fantasies of a Spanish child living in New York City.
I feel that the use of Spanish in the story is appealing to all ethnic groups of children. For the children who do not know Spanish, they may like learning something new and for those who hear Spanish on a daily basis, they may feel a sense of pride in hearing familiar words in a place that the language is usually not spoken. When I was doing student teaching, my cooperating teacher read the story “Abuela” to the children. While reading, she asked the Spanish speaking children to help her pronounce the words in Spanish. The children felt a lot of pride and happiness to be able to share familiar words to them with the other children.
What I like the most about this book is the illustrations. Each and every page of this book is a masterpiece of colors, lines, and forms. I was intrigued by the unique use of patterns throughout the book, from the pattern of Abuela’s skirt to the wings of the birds in the park to the amazing details on the buildings and streets of the city. These amazing patterns reflect the colorful and joyful Spanish culture.
The richness of the book goes beyond just mentioning a few words in Spanish. The author‘s description of how Abuela and Rosalba flew over the Statue of Liberty is just a way of highlighting the fact that Abuela was an immigrant. She first arrived to Ellis Island where the Statue of Liberty is located. The author also mentions some of the fruits that the Spanish brought with them to America such as Papayas and Bananas. He also indicates that these names are Spanish.
This book touches upon almost every aspect of the Spanish culture. What I really enjoyed, other than the illustrations and colors, was the helpful glossary of Spanish words in the back of the book. I learned few Spanish words!
It seems as if you thoroughly enjoyed the book. I think that the story shows a wide range of Hispanic culture and shows a little bit of everything. The language, food, places of interest, words etc. are all mentioned throughout and make the story more interesting. This is a good book for students who live in NYC and are learning about different cultures that are present among all of the boroughs. By displaying the grandmother's journey from being an immigrant to a full citizen shows the depth and maybe some lessons and stories she wishes to pass on to her grand daughter. I think that this is a fun book to read to students and they get to learn new words and ideas too.
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