Tomás and the Library Lady

Title: Tomás and the Library Lady
Author: Pat Mora
Illustrator: Raul Colón
Genre: Multicultural

Summary
Tomás and the Library Lady is about a young boy and his family who have to travel back and forth between Iowa and Texas depending on the seasons because his parents are migrant workers. At the beginning of the story, Tomás and his family are traveling in their rusty car on their way to Iowa so that his parents can pick fruits and vegetables for Iowa farmers during the summer. During the day when his parents are out working in the fields, Tomás and his brother, Enrique sit under the tree in the shade listening to their grandfather’s stories. One day, grandfather asks the children to guess what is about to happen in the story and Tomás responds with the correct ending because he has memorized all of grandfather’s stories. His grandfather tells Tomás that it is time for him to go to the library and learn new stories that he could come back and tell his family. The first day Tomás goes to the library, he meets the librarian who is very friendly and nice. She picks out several books for Tomás that fit his interests perfectly. When Tomás reads, he becomes extremely engaged in the stories, and feels like he is actually part of the story. Throughout the summer, Tomás goes to the library on a regular basis and reads all kinds of books. While at the library, the librarian and him form a very special bond; she reads to him and he teaches her some simple Spanish words and phrases. Each night when Tomás goes home after being at the library, he shares the stories he read with his family. At the end of the book, summer is coming to an end and it is time for Tomás to say goodbye to the librarian. Tomás thanks the librarian for all the fun times they shared and she responds to him by saying “gracious” to show him that she learned a lot from him as well.

Classroom Connection
In the classroom, I would tell my students that Tomás and the Library Lady is based off of the real life story of Tomás Rivera. It would be interesting to have students research Tomás Rivera and his life after reading this book aloud together. Students could then compare Tomás Rivera’s life story to what happened in the book. The students could use a Venn Diagram to organize their thoughts and be able to see the similarities and differences among his real life and the book.