Literatura Infantojuvenil

I liked this book because it was told from a child’s point of view. The little girl says, “We’d walk hand in hand, and I’d try to take steps as big as his” when she remembers how her and her papa would take walks on Sundays. The little girl asks her mother, “And Kika’s ticket?” assuming that their dog, Kika, would be traveling to America with them. Once her mother tells her that their dog is staying behind with her grandmother the little girl says, “my heart doesn’t know how to be away from Kika” describing her love for and reluctance to leave her dog. This deep love for a pet is common in many children who have pets.
I also liked this book because of the illustrations. The illustrations are bright and detailed and they depict the scenes of the story very well. On the page where the little girl is on the phone with her papa, the illustration shows her shocked and excited reaction to the news, using bright colors and a surprised facial expression from the little girl. The illustrations show the dogs sad, disappointed face on the page where the little girl finds out that the dog will be staying behind. The colors used are not as bright and the dogs head is looking at the floor, showing its disappointment. A few pages also included the little girls drawings as the illustrations. On the page where the little girl is thinking about the walks she used to take with her papa, the page shows illustrations that are obviously drawn by a child. The reader can tell this because they do not match the rest if the illustrations in the book and the lines are not at strait or detailed. This enhances the story because the text is the little girls memories and the illustration are the girls drawings of her and her father hand in hand.
I think that the main idea of this book is to describe the life of a family who is split apart due to poverty. The little girl's father is in America working to provide for his family and the little girl and her mother live with the grandmother while they are waiting for the father to send for them. This is the reality for many families living in poverty around the world. I think that this book is meant to describe and inform about this situation and the things that this family has to deal with, like being away from her father for a long period of time and having to leave family and friends behind. ( )

There are four reasons why I like this book. First, I like this book because of the big idea. It is about a young girl who's father is in America trying to work and earn money for his family while they still live in Mexico. This not only can be correlated to students who have parents living in another country, but even students who have separated parents. It's hard to be away from a parent for extended periods of time. This book helps children understand why some adults do what they have to do. It also shows how people coming to America may feel, for example if someone from Mexico moved to America and started attending school. This book could give students an idea of what their peer is going through. The illustrations are rich and full of color. They show a lot of emotion that the text is representing. For example, when the phone rings and the narrator gets to talk to her papa, the illustration shows how excited she is to speak with him. I like this story also for the point of view it is told in. The little girl is telling her story of the way she feels which gives more character development. "They nod their heads, but we don't talk much because we are waiting for papa's call." This is just an example of the text showing how from the character's point of view, the reader can feel the suspense. Lastly, the book pushes the reader to think about a controversial topic of moving and having family far away. This relates back to the big idea of the story. Students should be able to think about how the lives of other people could be very different than their own. I like this book a lot. ( )

A young girl looks forward to visiting her father who has been gone for a year working in the United States. Good story about families that must endure painful separations due to economic reasons. ( )

The book touches the sensitive side to open the eyes of young children and fill their hearts with understanding and empathy towards foreign students and children that might be entering our country. It gives the reader a clear perspective on the hardship of starting a new life; leaving loved ones behind. The struggle parents endure while providing for their families financial needs; trying to balance family unity. It entails the sacrifices the little girl and her mother have to make along with Papa; not being able to live under the same roof since he works in the United States. The Story centers on the difficulty the young girl endures upon moving to the States and leaving her friends and grandmother behind along with her dog Kiki, who has been her companion for the last 2 years since her Papa has been gone. The author, Lawrence Schimel, received his BA in literature from Yale University. He is a member of the National Book Critic Circle and The Academy of American Poets. The illustrator, Alba Marina Rivera, is a published illustrator who not only illustrates English books but also Spanish books. Elisa Amado translated the Spanish edition into the English edition.