Abuela

Dorros, Arthur, Elisa Kleven, Barbara Powderly, and Robert L. Egolf. Abuela. New York: Dutton Children's, 1991. Print.

In Abuela, a young girl and her grandmother (or “abuela” in Spanish) go to the park to feed the birds.  The girl’s imagination takes over and she visualizes herself and her abuela flying and visiting friends and family.  In the end of the book, they return to the park and decide to go on another adventure in a boat, showing the limitless world of imagination. 

Looking at the readability lexiles, I found Abuela to be in the upper middle area of the language spectrum.  Throughout the book there are many Spanish words mixed in with English words.  Although some are commonly said like “Buenos dias!” most are uncommon to non-Spanish speaking children and adults such as, “Pero quiero volar mas” (I want to fly more).  Cognitively, I would place the text in early elementary because it is almost entirely based in fantasy and it is clear which pages are real and which ones are imagination.  Socially, I would place the story in the middle elementary range.  The main hurdle some students may face is trying to understand other's point of view, mainly from a different cultural perspective. Also, many Spanish words are used, which may be confusing to some learners. 

When examining the characteristics of high quality learning, the little girl doesn't face any real problems.  The story is all about the fun she has with her abuela; it is a genuinely upbeat text.  Since there aren't really any problems, I would say the book simply promotes spending time with family, using your imagination and the power of love.

I found the characters to be many-sided.  The little girl has many places in her imagination that she visits while flying with her abuela.  Places such as the city, the sea, the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, the airport, the clouds, and her aunt and uncle's store are all visited and portrayed positively.  Throughout the text I noticed the girl doesn't have any visible weaknesses.  The abuela is old and wise but still with the enthusiasm of a child.  She acts as the cultural heart of the story with her many Spanish words and the girl soon after explaining to the reader what those words mean in English. 

The book seems to be set in modern day America, so there isn't much of a historical setting but there is a cultural setting.  The characters are in a heavily Hispanic and multicultural part of the U.S.  Many ethnicities are viewed in the illustrations, with the most prominent being Hispanic.  In Abuela the world is a cohesive and happy place.  This allows readers to gain an understanding about multiculturalism, especially the Hispanic culture with many Spanish words and phrases used by abuela. 

The book discusses themes such as: imagination, elders/family, love and acceptance.  Imagination is shown throughout most of the book, which is centered on the journey the girl and her abuela take together.  Elders and family are visited first and the location where they are is secondary.  The family that is visited is equally happy to see the girl and her abuela even though it is a surprise visit.  These reactions along with the girl’s praise show the love within her family.

I think the book makes children use higher thought processes in examining the extremely detailed and busy pictures to see what is being described in the limited words.  Also, the words abuela speaks are all in Spanish and the students can use context clues to understand what she is saying even if they have limited experience with the language.  While examining these detailed pictures along with the text I found no negative stereotypes.

I believe the text motivates and inspires students, specifically through the imagination component, showing the bond between family and generations, learning more about Hispanic culture--especially the language.  These cultural expressions expand students’ knowledge of the academic field by showing them Hispanic culture, especially through the respect of elders, especially family elders.

The literary elements I found throughout the text were: characterization, setting as a mood and point of view.  In characterization, the little girl and her abuela are so happy to be exploring the world and finding delight in every destination.  The little girl is bi-lingual, an admirable trait in a children’s book character.  Within her personality her sense of imagination and wonder is definitely comparable to an elementary school student.  Throughout the book I found the theme of flying representing the freedom of thought and imagination the girl and her abuela have.  This freedom-oriented setting ties in with the optimistic mood of the story.  In the same breath, the text’s point of view was prominent.  The descriptions of each place visited and how the girl and her abuela fit into them was like a miniature story on each page.  For example, when they visit the Statue of Liberty, Abuela says, “Me gusta” and stating how seeing her reminds her of when she first arrived in America.  These anecdotes are present on almost every page of Abuela. 

The illustrations, made with paint and pen, are incredible and intricate.  On every page you can see many people going about their daily business, people waving and smiling at the girl and her abuela, people inside trains, apartments and cars and other environmental details in the stores, the park or the aerial shots.  A lot of work went into the pictures and this acts as a perfect compliment to the girl’s vivid imagination. 

One idea I had for a mini lesson was to teach the students several Spanish phrases and words, some of them they would already know, and some would be new.  In addition to this, they could write a journal entry of who would you take flying with you and where they would go?  They would be encouraged to use some of their new Spanish words in their reply to describe their pictures. 

   I found the target audience in Abuela to be in the later stages of early elementary.  I say this because  the text is a simple story with no real problems, but another language is used prominently and may get confusing for some students.