Return to Sender, a compassionate story about undocumented immigration (ages 9 - 14)

I love how stories can help us see into perspectives of other people. Return to Sender, by Julia Alvarez, is a touching story that explores the impact immigration has on children from two very different families. I particularly liked how it introduced young readers to the world of Mari, a young girl whose parents immigrated from Mexico to the US when she was very young.  This is a compassionate story about a complex, difficult situation.

Return to Sender
by Julia Alvarez
NY: Knopf; 2009
ages 9-14
available on Amazon or at your local public library

Tyler is a 6th-grade boy on a Vermont farm who befriends Mari, the daughter of undocumented Mexican workers. Alvarez tells this tale from both sides, using the voices of Tyler and Mari. Tyler’s father was hurt in a farm accident, and the family must adjust to having more help on the farm. Mari was born in Mexico and now lives in a trailer as her dad and uncle work on Tyler’s family farm. Mari's mother left a year ago to visit her parents in Mexico, and has not yet returned to their family. Tyler is worried that his family won't be able to keep their farm since his father cannot run it on his own anymore, and Mari is very anxious that her mother will not return. Mari and Tyler's friendship was believable and moving, as they warily became friends, got to know each other, and finally reached out to really help one another.

Tweens will like hearing this story from the point of view of two different characters who are struggling with large and small issues in their lives. They will like exploring the moral dilemmas facing both families, and the emotional difficulties of being separated from your mother. Mari's mother does return, but she had been detained and abused by the Coyotes who were helping her across the border. Alvarez alludes to the horrors that Mari's mother faced, but does not explore the details - it was a perfect balance for young tween readers.

I particularly liked how Mari's feelings came through in the letters she writes to her mother, her grandparents, and even the president. She finds it very helpful to write out her feelings, and I loved that suggestion for tweens and young teens.. I did find it difficult to switch between the perspectives of Mari and Tyler - each time I started a chapter in Tyler's voice, it took me a few pages to switch gears. It would be interesting to ask young readers if they liked this way of reading a story, if it helped them see two sides to this story.

Julia Alvarez was awarded  the 2010 Pura Belpre Author Award for Return to Sender. The award committee wrote of Return to Sender:

After Tyler’s father is unable to maintain the family farm, he hires undocumented workers, resulting in an interdependent relationship that mirrors current social and political conditions in the United States. Alvarez humanizes a situation by giving a voice to millions of immigrants experiencing similar hardships. This outstanding novel about the solidarity between two children of different cultures will resonate in the hearts of readers of any age.

I would definitely recommend this story to readers who enjoy realistic fiction, who want to reach out beyond their own experiences. For another review, please see TheHappyNappyBookseller.

You can find Return to Sender at your local public library or on Amazon. Please note that Amazon links include an Amazon Affiliate ID. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, Great Kid Books receives a small percentage of the purchase price (at no cost to you). Thank you for your support.

Share a Story, Shape a Future - a great resource for parents

Share a Story Shape a Future is an annual blog event to promote literacy, celebrate books, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and readers everywhere. This year's theme is "It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader." Join us this week, March 8th to March 12th. This is a wonderful resource for parents to explore. You can read inspiring articles, find helpful, practical tips, and discover new authors you admire. I'm excited to be participating on Friday, reflecting on how parents can help their children learn to love reading even if they are not a great reader themselves.




Each day a different kidlitosphere blogger serves as host for the posting of several other bloggers. You may visit the host blogs' sites to find a complete blog roll for each day. There will be many different resources that will inspire you to help your children develop a love of reading.

Monday, March 8th: The Many Faces of Reading
Host: Terry Doherty at Scrub-A-Dub-Tub
Topics of the day will encompass the relationship aspect of helping children learn to read: parent-child and teacher-parent partnerships, literacy outreach; and libraries, to name a few.

Tuesday, March 9th: Literacy My Way/Literacy Your Way
Host: Susan Stephenson at The Book Chook
Creative literacy in all its forms (writing, art, computers) will be the topic of the day.

Wednesday, March 10th: Just the Facts: The Nonfiction Book Hook
Host: Sarah Mulhern at The Reading Zone
This is the day for exploring the different genres of nonfiction (biography and memoir, science, nature, math, etc), as well as the use (or not) of historical fiction.

Thursday, March 11th: Reading Through the Ages: Old Faves & New Classics
Host: Donalyn Miller at The Book Whisperer
Bloggers will share thematic book lists that include newer titles and the classics we loved as kids.

Friday, March 12th: Reading for the Next Generation
Host: Jen Robinson at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Join us as we talk about how to approach reading when your interests and your child's don't match. It may be that you don't like to read but your child does, how to raise the reader you're not, and dealing with the "pressure" of feeling forced to read.

There is a great line-up for the Share a Story, Shape a Future event. I look forward to reading the posts this week from well-regarded book bloggers and literacy advocates around the world.

** The Share a Story, Shape a Future logo was created by Elizabeth Dulemba, children's book author and illustrator, and SaS/SaF contributor.

Pio Peep! and Muu Moo! Traditional Spanish nursery rhymes for young children (ages 2-6)

I really enjoy sharing poetry and stories from other cultures with young children. Here is a wonderful collection of traditional Spanish nursery rhymes and songs, in both Spanish and English. It's perfect for toddlers and young children, but would also be great to explore with slightly older children who are leaning Spanish.

¡Pío Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes
selected by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
English adaptations by Alice Schertle
illustrations by Vivi Escriva
NY: HarperCollins, 2003
ages 2 - 6

Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy, both Bay Area local teachers and writers, collected nursery rhymes and songs from across Spain, Latin America and the American Southwest, especially looking for traditional songs and rhymes from their childhoods. Shared in both Spanish and English, these nursery rhymes are sweet, simple and musical. The original Spanish rhymes are paired with English versions that are not direct translations, but rather “poetic recreations”.  An fun example is Cinco Pollitos / Five Little Chicks (I apologize for not being able to add the correct accents).

Cinco Pollitos
Cinco pollitos
tiene mi tia:
Uno le canta,
otro le pia
y tres le tocan la chirimia.

Five Little Chicks
Rum-a-tum-tum, whistles and sticks,
my auntie makes music with five little chicks:
One is a singer,
another can hum,
three play the melody: rum-a-tum-tum.

(c) Alma Flor Ada, Isabel Campoy and Alice Schertle

The rhythm and melody of both the Spanish and English versions are wonderful.  They poems and songs are short, so even little children with short attentions will enjoy them. The illustrations are bright and cheerful, and really develop the feelings in a lovely way. You can browse inside the book at the HarperCollins website. 

Best news of all: these collaborators are just publishing a follow-up to this collection: ¡Muu, Moo! This collection will have animal nursery rhymes in both English and Spanish.  Again, Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy have collected traditional rhymes from Spain, Latin America and the United States. In addition, they have included some of their own original poems. Thanks to Fuse#8 for the HarperCollins Librarian Preview for alerting me to this! Muu, Moo! will be released March 9th.

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Teaching Books. Stop by their site for a great roundup of inspiring original poetry and reviews of poetry collections.

You can find ¡Pío Peep! at your local library using WorldCat, local bookstores, or on Amazon.  If you make a purchase on Amazon, please use this link: ¡Pío Peep! and small portion will go to Great Kid Books (at no cost to you). This link on Amazon for ¡Pío Peep! also includes a CD with the nursery rhymes in both Spanish and English, along with original music: a great bonus!  This will be used to purchase more books to review. Thank you for your support! You can also use the widgets below to go directly to Amazon:

Cat the Cat, Who Is That?

Do you have a little one learning to read at the earliest level? In our house, we love, love Mo Willems. He's just launching a new series for kids just learning to read: Cat the Cat.   This series is geared to the youngest audience of any of the books he's made, but they have the classic Mo Twists. My favorite parts: they make us giggle, and they make my kindergartner want to read them again and again.

Cat the Cat, Who Is That?

by Mo Willems
NY: Balzer + Bray, 2010
ages 2 - 5

Cat the Cat is in search of friends. So she wanders down her street, meeting new friends along the way.

Cat the Cat, who is that?
It's Mouse the Mouse!

Cat skips along, meeting a mouse, a duck, a fish.  And then all of a sudden - EEP! - she meets a very strange creature.  Should she be scared? Or fascinated? She has NO idea.  But then this creature waves. Maybe... "It's a NEW friend!"  Hooray! This is a fun book - it certainly made us giggle. And as a parent and teacher, I love the way Cat the Cat meets a new person, wonders about her, and then decides to try playing with someone new and different.

This series is for a younger audience than the Elephant and Piggie books, and will not cause the outrageous laughter that that duo cause.  But Cat the Cat is wonderful for toddlers with very short attention spans, or for preschoolers and kindergartners learning to sound out words on their own.  Mo Willems explains a bit about the creation of this series in this video:


source: HarperKids

You can find these books at your local library using WorldCat, local bookstores, or on Amazon.  If you make a purchase on Amazon using the links here, a small portion will go to Great Kid Books (at no cost to you).  This will be used to purchase more books to review. Thank you for your support!

Books about pets for early readers (ages 4 - 6)

Do you have an early reader in your family?  Children who are very early readers need books specially chosen for them. At the bottom of this post, I will go into more detail about what I look for in an early reader. But first, I'd like to share two books for very early readers about kids who love their dog. My Dog, Buddy and When Tiny Was Tiny are two fun books about little kids and their special friendship with their dog.

My Dog, Buddy
by David Milgrim
NY: Scholastic, 2008
Scholastic Beginning Reader - Level 1
ages 4 - 6

When you're the little kid in the family, it sometimes feels like no one listens to you.  But Buddy listens best when the young boy in this story talks to him.  When Dad tells Buddy to sit, Buddy stands up and barks. When Dad tells Buddy to stand up and bark, Buddy sits! But when the little boy tells Buddy to come, he does.  Of course, a friendly lick of an ice cream cone helps!  This is a fun, simple book that appeals to little kids.  I love the way the whole family looks to the little kid to help them find Buddy when he's lost.  As he says, "You have to know how to talk to a dog." It's a great choice for an early reader.

David Milgrim is the author of over a dozen books including a "Ready to Read" series for Atheneum featuring a robot named Otto.  We love this series, but unfortunately it's out of print.  Check for these books at your local library.

When Tiny Was Tiny
by Cari Meister
illustrated by Rich Davis
NY: Viking, 1999
Puffin Easy-to-read, level 1
ages 4 - 6

Tiny is a very big dog, but Tiny was not always big. When he was tiny, he fit in a shoe or pocket. Then Tiny grew and grew. "Now Tiny is very big!" This is a sweet story about the joy a little boy has playing with his giant dog.  It compares things they used to do when Tiny was a little dog, and things they still do now that Tiny is big.  The trouble that Tiny gets into will have your little reader laughing and giggling.  As you see Tiny tracking mud through the kitchen, you read "When Tiny was tiny, he had big feet."  On the next page, Tiny is standing on the little boy's foot.  "He still does. Ow! Get off my foot, Tiny."  Throughout, this book celebrates the friendship the little boy has with his dog, and how that friendship doesn't change even though Tiny has gotten bigger.  I'd love to ask the little kid reading if their friends have change as they've gotten bigger, or if they're still friend with the kids they played with in preschool.  If you like the Tiny stories, look for others in the series: Tiny the Snow Dog, Tiny Goes Camping, Tiny Goes to the Library, and Tiny's Bath.

When I am choosing a book for a early reader, I look at the story, the words and sentences, and the design or layout of the book. The story should be engaging so that it makes these children want to keep reading. Stories that are funny and where kids can see themselves in the story are best, in my view. Early readers need books with very simple, short sentences (about five words long). For very early readers, I look for words that are three to five letters long for the most part. Longer, harder words should be supported by pictures. The design of an early reader is also very important. The text needs to be large and clear, with only one sentence per page for very early readers.

You can find these books at your local library, local bookstores, or on Amazon.  If you make a purchase on Amazon using the links here, a small portion will go to Great Kid Books (at no cost to you).  This will be used to purchase more books to review. Thank you for your support!

Bad to the Bone, by Lucy Nolan - winner of 2009 Cybils short chapter book

Do you have any animal loving new readers in your life? My children and their friends love their pets. I remember when I was young I used to tell all my secrets to my cat because he would never share them with anyone! The Down Girl and Sit series is a great choice for kids ready to read short chapter books. Best of all, this will make you laugh out loud.

Bad to the Bone
by Lucy Nolan
illustrated by Mike Reed
NY: Marshall Cavendish Children, 2008
ages 6 - 8

This is truly a story for the dogs, or should I say from the dogs? Down Girl explains about her days protecting her home from the evil cat next door, Here Kitty Kitty. She shares tales of training her master, along with the help of her neighbor Sit. You see, their masters are continually yelling, "Down Girl" or "Sit" to these two hopelessly clueless dogs.

I loved the humor in this short chapter book. It made me laugh out loud on several occasions. Nolan has created a distinctive humorous voice as you hear Down Girl telling her silly story. In one of my favorite chapters, Down Girl explains about her typical day when Rruff (her master, because she's always barking at him):

I don't know where Rruff goes every morning when he leaves the house. I just know that he is very lucky that I stay home. If I goofed off as much as he does, the squirrels would take over. Sit and I are not about to let that happen.

We want to make the neighborhood safe for everyone - even the man next door. He is not my favorite person. He grills hamburgers in his yard and never gives me any. But I don't hold that against him.
Well, not much.

You can just guess some of the escapades that Down Girl is going to get into with this hamburger-loving neighbor. Nolan also does a wonderful job of combining action, dialog and character development - all of which are important qualities for new readers to understand. The illustrations throughout help develop the humor and silly situations. I would love to ask a child what this story would sound like if the master told it. Or maybe Here Kitty Kitty.

Lucy Nolan shares on her website about her funny dogs Nutmeg and Becky. She writes,

Everybody always wants to know which of my two dogs inspired the character of Down Girl. The original answer was "Nutmeg" — the most rambunctious, and ridiculous, dog you could ever meet. Nutmeg was a red setter who spent a lot of time standing up on her hind legs or springing into the air for no apparent reason. I spent a lot of time yelling, "Down, girl!"

By the time I finished writing the first Down Girl and Sit book, Becky the English setter had come to live with us. Becky is the sweetest dog I've ever known, but she has the knack of getting into some very odd predicaments. Between the two of them, Down Girl's personality really started taking shape.

If you're interested, take a look at the Google preview of the book. See if the reading level and text matches your child's ability. Or if you're a dog-loving family, this would make a great read-aloud. The beginning of the first chapter starts off with Down Girl explaining about the everlasting feud between cats and dogs:

Bad to the Bone was chosen as the winner of the 2009 Cybils Award for Short Chapter Books. I served on the round 2 judging panel and found the discussions with other panel members fascinating. Cybils are awarded to books that have both the highest literary merit and excellent kid appeal. I am thrilled that Cybils is recognizing short chapter books - such an important step as children develop their confidence and fluency reading longer books.

If you like Bad to the Bone, definitely check out other books in the Down Girl and Sit series:
Smarter than Squirrels
On the Road
Home on the Range (coming in April 2010!)

The review copy was kindly provided by the publisher for the Cybils panel. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links, Great Kid Books will receive a small commission (at no cost to you!) which will be used to purchase more books for review. Thank you for your support.