illustrator:
Loretta Lopez
Lee
& Low, 1999
kindergarten-grade
3
Mexican
American
In this sweet autobiographical story, six-year-old
Lori, who lives with her family in a town on the US side of the border with
Mexico, wants to find the perfect birthday gift for her teenage sister, Cookie.
On the day before the annual family reunion that marks Cookie’s birthday, Lori
and her mother go shopping at a mercado on the Mexico side. Although Lori finds
things she would like for herself—such as a donkey piñata or a puppy—she just
doesn’t find anything she thinks her sister would like. When they arrive home,
the whole family’s involved in preparation for the party; and the next day,
Lori, whose birthday is in December, finds that Cookie has “swapped” birthdays
so that Lori could have a huge summer party, too. And, there’s the donkey
piñata she had seen at the mercado and, best of all—the puppy.
The text is in English with a
smattering of Spanish terms, mostly family words and endearing phrases; this is
very common with families who’ve been in the US for several generations.
Lopez’s illustrations, rendered in
gouache and colored pencils on watercolor paper, are warm and bright and
inviting. The text is attractively bordered with pictures of objects commonly sold
in mercados, so different from supermarkets here. And I especially appreciate
that Lopez has portrayed Lori and her relatives—actually, Lopez’s own relatives—as real people, clearly
Latino, without exaggerated features, with varying skin tones. It’s unfortunate
that this is not the case in many, if not most, picture books in today’s
“multicultural” market.
Based on the author’s own surprise
birthday party, Birthday Swap realistically
depicts an event in the life of a Mexican family residing in a border town, easily
moving back and forth between the US and Mexico to visit, shop and run errands.
Although it was disappointing that Lori did not wind up finding or making a
gift for her older sister, Birthday Swap
is a good addition to a collection about Latino families, and is recommended.
—María Cárdenas
(published 2/21/14)
(published 2/21/14)
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