My Abuelita by Tony Johnston

Beautiful.  That’s what I thought of this story and it’s illustrations.  My Abuelita, by Tony Johnston, is a tale about a little boy and his grandmother (abuelita).  Abuelita is an eccentric, loving woman whose job, as it turns out, is a professional story teller.  The book has static plot consisting of the boy and his grandma getting ready to go to work.  The writing is definitely not dumbed down for the reader, and what I loved most about the writing is that many of the words are in Spanish with an English translation next to them.  But enough about the writing, on to the illustrations!  Oh, the illustrations!  For me, they are like a dream!  I thought David Diaz’s illustrations in Smoky Night were my favorite but now I would have to say it is these by Yuyi Morales.  They are colorful and eccentric and a combination of different materials.  The description in the front of the book says they were “created with polymer clay, wire, felting wool, acrylic paints, fabric, wood, metals, and Mexican crafts, then photographed and digitally manipulated.”  I don’t know if they would suit everyone’s taste but I think they are just so wonderful and funky.  Despite whether or not one likes the style, I’m sure no can deny what they add to the story.  They compliment the story, and yet, tell a story of their own.  This is one of my favorite books I’ve read for this class.
            There are so many ideas I have for using this book in my classroom that it’s hard to decide where to begin.  First, I would use this book for a unit on families.  The boy’s family appears to be made up of himself, his grandma, and his cat.  It is important that children see families that are different than the traditional nuclear family and still loving and happy.  Second, I would use this book to introduce Spanish language to the children.  I think a book that contains another language is a good way to introduce it because, in the form of a story, it is more relevant to children.  It would be good to discuss important aspects of Spanish culture at the same time the language is introduced.    Another important topic I would want to bring up about this book is the concept of being a story teller as a career.  I would want children to ponder the questions: Do you know any storytellers?  What’s a career that we have heard of that is similar to this?  I think talking about this will help children see that being creative and writing is not just something we do in class; it can have much broader applications.    
Year Published: 2009          Illustrator: Yuyi Morales