Abuela

Title: Abuela
Author: Arthur Dorros
Illustrator: Elisa Kleven
Genre: Multicultural Literature


Summary
Abuela is a heart-warming story about a little girl named Rosalba and her Grandmother. Abuela means grandmother in Spanish. Her Grandma speaks mostly Spanish throughout the story because that is what people spoke when she grew up before coming to this country. This book uses a combination of both English and Spanish phrases throughout the text. Common Spanish phrases like “Me gusta” and “Buenos dias” are used and defined throughout the book, connecting strongly to bilingual students.
At the beginning of the story Rosalba and her Abuela are riding a bus through Manhattan. Rosalba talks about how her and her Abuela go many places together. Today they decide to go to the park. Roslba sees birds flying at the park and imagines what it would be like if her and her Abuela got carried away into the sky. She imagines they are in the sky, flying over all the sights of New York City. Some places they fly over are factories, the sea, the Statue of Liberty, the airport, and many other places. After flying over many places, Roslba and Abuela come back to the park. Abuela takes her granddaughter to the lake for yet another adventure. They go hand and hand as they enter the boat. The book Abuela portrays the special bond that is shared between a child and a grandparent.

Classroom Connection
At first glance, the book looks fairly simple, however, since the text has both English and Spanish phrases in it, it becomes a little more difficult to read especially if a child is not familiar with one of the languages represented in the book. I would use this book in my classroom as an introductory book for students to read when they are first learning common phrases in Spanish because they are able to compare it to the phrase in English. I think it is important for students to gain a basic knowledge of Spanish because so many people living in the United States speak Spanish. If students become interested in Spanish at an early age, they will be able to communicate easier with students who are fluent in Spanish.