Grandma Francisca Remembers: A Hispanic-American Family Story (What Was It Like, Grandma)

Gr. 1-3. Using a specific example to communicate broad cultural generalizations, Morris and photographer Linenthal follow young Angelica Morales and her abuela to many places they visit--from the Hispanic market to a housing project apartment kitchen. The text is printed in two sizes, with very simply phrased comments ("Many Hispanic-American people eat tortillas with all kinds of food"; "Grandma Francisca's family has always been religious") in large type printed above several sentences of elaboration in smaller type. Linenthal's photos and the older, sepia-tone family photos are posed yet informal, though sometimes a bit blurry. There's little sense of the diversity of Hispanic American culture in the book, but Morris slips in bits of Spanish, along with a recipe for vegetable stew (calabacitas) and instructions for making a sock doll. She closes with basic advice about interviewing older relatives and creating a photo album, which may prompt children, no matter what their heritage, to take an interest in their families' past. A competent entry in the What Was It Like, Grandma? series. John Peters
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Grades 1-3--Clear, color photographs, headline-type captions over the text, and an engaging intergenerational relationship mark this book. Angelica's grandmother, Francisca, lives in the apartment next door to hers. This provides lots of opportunities for the two to be together. They go for walks, practice speaking Spanish, look at old family photos, sew, and cook. (Instructions for making a sock doll and for cooking calabacitas are included.) One spread shows Grandma Francisca and Angelica pointing to their small home shrine to the Virgin Mary. While many Hispanics are Roman Catholics, the author's statement that the Virgin "is very important to the Hispanic people" is rather broad. Despite this, the book provides an interesting look into one of America's many ethnic/cultural groups.
Ruth Semrau, Upshur County Public Library, Gilmer, TX
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