Book Reviews

In searching for Latino/Chicano American literature, I realized just how many non-realistic books were out there. Many of the books I came across attempted to teach the reader something but used such a stereotypical way to do it that the book almost seemed useless. I did find books that were more current and relevant to children of today’s society but I also reviewed a book that portrayed Latino people in quite a negative way.

The first book I read is called Barrio: Jose’s Neighborhood. Jose is a young boy living in a Latino neighborhood in San Francisco. The neighborhood is full of immigrants from Mexico and they refer to their neighborhood as El barrio. The text discusses Jose’s everyday life and the customs and traditions that live on in his neighborhood. This book gives children an insight on neighborhoods that are, perhaps, quite different from theirs. They learn about Jose’s family and his school routine. They learn about his town and the food that the Latino people eat. It is a picture book full of real pictures and real insight into a Latino community. The author of this text followed Jose around in order to write his story and he is a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I believe that this is a very beneficial book to share with children because it narrates the everyday life of a boy living in a Latino community.

The second book I read, Tomas and the Library Lady, by Pat Mora, is a story about a boy who moved from his Latino community in Texas to move with his family to Iowa. This book portrays Latino people in a very stereotypical way. Tomas’s mother and father are both farm workers. The family is poor and the children play with things like a ball made from an old teddy bear. Tomas discovers a library and meets a librarian who introduces him to books upon books. Tomas gets lost in the stories he reads and introduces his grandfathers to the story as well. Mora is an author who has written many books about children who are a part of the Latino culture. This book may be an enjoyable book for children but it is not beneficial in any way in teaching children about the Latino culture.

The third book, Juana Ines, by Georgina Lazaro, is written in both Spanish and English. The story is about a young girl living in a small village in Mexico. Her family cares for the few animals they have and they grow food for themselves. These facts are not portrayed in a stereotypical way, it simply states facts about Juana’s life. Juana cares very much about school and seems to be studying whenever she is not helping her family out. She enjoys going into town with her grandmother as well. It is a book that can teach children about a different culture and a different life. It discusses food, customs and traditions of her family and her town. This book sheds light into a small Mexican village that is very different from society in the United States. Lazaro grew up in a larger city in Mexico.

My Little Car, by Gary Soto is the fourth children’s book I read. Soto is a Mexican-American who has written many books about Mexican-American children. Although this book has a great story for children to read, it could not get much more stereotypical. Teresa receives a little car, mi carrito, from her grandfather. The car is a lowrider and has chili peppers for headlights. The people are illustrated to be very cartoonish but stereotypical at the same time. Teresa’s father drives a lowrider truck with a license plate that says Rosa. This book does little, besides including Spanish words and a glossary, to teach children about the Latino culture.

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto is another book I chose to review. I chose the same author twice because he is an insider to the Mexican-American culture. This story is about a little girl helping her mother make tamales. She thinks she looses her mother’s wedding ring in the tamale dough and decides the only way to find the ring is to eat all of the tamales. She realizes her mother is wearing the ring and so the family returns to the kitchen to make more tamales. This book does a much better job in portraying a Latino family. It teaches about holiday traditions, the Mexican culture and the importance of family. This is a book that children can also learn a few basic Spanish words from.