Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room, Del Sol Books

Authors : Amada Irma Perez, Illustrator : Maya Christina Gonzalez
1st Grade - 4th Grade

Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room

Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room, Softcover, Bilingual, Book, Amada Irma Perez, Maya Christina Gonzalez, 1st Grade - 4th Grade, 9780892392230, $7.95
Mi propio cuartito - My Very Own Room, Hardcover, Bilingual, Book, Amada Irma Perez, Maya Christina Gonzalez, 1st Grade - 4th Grade, 9780892391646, $16.95

2000 Tomas Rivera Children's Book Award
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"

"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."

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.

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.

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.

Amada Irma Perez Collection Books :