Remembering Grandma: Recordando a Abuela

Criticas

PreS-Gr 2-This tender story, written from the point of view of a girl who has recently lost her beloved grandmother is a celebration of life. When Lorena and her mother go to the grandparents' home to help the heartbroken grandfather clean out his wife's things, the girl searches for a way to cheer him up. Rummaging through an old trunk, she finds Abuela's old gardening hat along with other mementos of good times together. Their shared memories help grandfather and granddaughter remember Abuela with joy. A beautiful book, rendered skillfully in both languages, appropriate for all collections and bookstores. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Armas has written a pleasant, but not unique book about the experience of missing a loved one. Lorena, a young girl, lost her grandmother a month ago. She misses her grandmother, who was her friend. One day, Lorena and her mother go to her grandparent's house in order to clean out her grandmother's things. Lorena's grandfather stares morosely out the window. Lorena tries to cheer him with a Spanish nursery rhyme, but without success, so she turns to cleaning out her grandmother's treasure trunk. Each item exposed revives joyful memories of life with Grandmother, and a straw gardening hat finally rouses Grandfather from his chair. He puts it on and begins to recount his wife's devotion to her garden. Lorena joins in reminiscing, and the two go into the garden where they realize that through Grandmother's floral legacy, they can feel close to her. Ventura's light-filled watercolors reinforce the joy possible in remembering a loved one. The plants and people move from a sedate gray palette to tropical sparkle as the characters realize that their beloved is not so inaccessible. This book provides a useful method for coping with a death in the family, and gives readers hope that their deceased relatives are not entirely lost. 2003, Piñata Books, Ages 5 to 8.
—Veronica Betancourt

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-Lorena is not happy when Mr. Garc'a's rooster wakes her up. First of all, it's a weekend; and secondly, she and her mother must go to her grandfather's house to help him pack up her grandmother's things. Grandma has been dead for a month, and Lorena and her mother miss her terribly. The change in Grandpa, though, is frightening. He suddenly seems frail and tired, unable or unwilling to do anything but sit. When Lorena begins to look through her grandmother's chest, the memories triggered by its contents begin to help Grandpa heal. Warmly told, this story addresses both grief and healing in texts that are sensitive, childlike, and clear. The illustrations are painted in muted tones of peach, mauve, taupe, lavender, and blue, and look almost like photographs in their fidelity to detail. Individual personalities sparkle, and the use of brighter colors at the end of the book, as Grandpa begins to live again, is inspired. Similar to Carmen Santiago Nodar's Abuelita's Paradise (Albert Whitman, 1992) in the use of recollection as a tool for dealing with grief, this is a welcome addition to books on memory, grieving, and the joy of sharing past experiences. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.