Authors : Amada Irma Perez, Illustrator :
Maya Christina Gonzalez
Preschool - 2nd Grade
Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room
Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own
Room, Softcover, Bilingual, Book, Amada Irma
Perez, Maya Christina Gonzalez,
Preschool - 2nd Grade,
9780892392230, $7.95
Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room, Hardcover, Bilingual, Book, Amada Irma
Perez, Maya Christina Gonzalez,
Preschool - 2nd Grade, 9780892391646, $16.95
$40.68 for the Amada Irma Perez Collection , Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 3 Hardcover Bilingual Books
$415.76 for the Bilingual Collection Red Books Set , Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 17 Hardcover Bilingual Books and 29 Softcover Bilingual Books
2000 Tomas
Rivera Children's Book Award "Aha!
This was it! This could be my room. I imagined it with my own bed, table, and
lamp—a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and
dream." Listen
to Vienna Rose read My Very Own Room
to you. A marvelous example of the magical encounter between a child and
books that we wish for all children.
"The bilingual first-person narrative realistically portrays a child who
can take charge and make changes…. Gonzalez's use of curved lines and warm
colors adds to the overall sense of family unity and security."
—The Horn Book Magazine Publishers Weekly :
Tired of sharing a room with her five brothers, an eight-year-old Mexican
American girl longs to find a corner of the house she can call her own ("a
place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream").
She persuades her mother to let her take up residence in a storage room, and the
whole family gets involved in refurbishing the new space. An uncle who is
heading back to Mexico donates his bed; one brother finds a wooden crate to use
for a bookcaseAand the books come from the library. Based on Perez's own
childhood, this bilingual picture book paints an affectionate portrait of life
in a big family that often provides a home base to newly arriving relatives and
friends ("There was always a long line to use the bathroom, but the toilet
seat was always warm") and offers strong testimony to the heroine's
resourcefulness. Gonzalez's (Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems) warm
palette, simple lines and uncluttered images flow through the story like a
series of murals. This inspiring tale will resonate with anyone who's ever
wished for a room of one's own or worked hard to achieve an important goal. Ages
6-up. Bilingual
Collection Red Books :
Parent's Guide to Children's Media "Outstanding Achievement in books
2000"
Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature "Picture Book
Category: Honor Award 2000"
Five little brothers, two parents, and a house full of visiting relatives make a
young Mexican American girl feel crowded. She loves her family, but how can she
get a little space of her own? Her loving and understanding family works
together to turn a small storage space into her very own room. This delightful
memoir of a childhood in El Monte, California, pours from the pen of first-time
author and bilingual teacher Amada Irma Pérez with exuberance and skill.
Renowned painter Maya Christina Gonzalez brings the captivating scenes to life
with bold colors and whimsical details.
School Library Journal : Kindergarten-Grade 3-In the tradition of Elizabeth
Starr Hill's Evan's Corner (Puffin, 1993), the nine-year-old protagonist of this
story longs for a room of her own in the crowded house she shares with her
parents, five brothers, and frequent guests. When the child sets her sights on a
small storage closet, the whole family helps to make her dream room a reality.
This bilingual book is based on an incident from the author's childhood, and it
reads more like a brief autobiographical essay than a picture book. The story
lacks tension since the main conflict is resolved quickly, but it does show that
a child's need for privacy doesn't preclude being a loving family member.
Gonzalez's rich, robust illustrations heighten the otherwise quiet story.
Smiling Mexican-American children with rounded body curves and widened facial
features march across pages splashed with bold brush strokes of primary colors.
A deserving purchase for bilingual and larger picture-book collections.
Booklist : "I woke up one morning in a crowded bed in a crowded room,"
begins this warm bilingual story of a young Mexican American girl's search for
her own space in an overflowing house. Because the eight-year-old narrator
shares a room with five brothers, she climbs trees to find quiet and longs for a
room of her own. Behind a flour-sack curtain, she finds a storage closet with
possibilities: "I imagined it with my own bed, table, and lamp--a place
where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream."
Working together "like a mighty team of powerful ants," the family
moves the closet's contents to the back porch and helps the girl create her own
room. The naive-style, tropical-colored paintings, reminiscent in places of
mural art, illustrate the frustrations of too-little space, the tenderness
between the girl and her mother, and the family's loving resourcefulness within
the cheerful chaos. An excellent choice for libraries in Hispanic and migrant
communities, this book will resonate with all young ones growing up with limited
space and resources.