Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina

Title: Mango, Abuela, and Me
Author/Illustrator: Meg Medina/Angela Dominguez
Genre: Children's Literature
Major Awards: 2016 Pura Belpré Author & Illustrator Award Honor Book
Age: 5-8

This book is about a little girl who learning how to adjust, now that her grandmother is moving in with her and her family. Her grandmother who she had never really got to know before was coming to stay with them. At first things were very difficult because the grandmother only spoke Spanish and Mia, the main character/little girl, only English and very few words in Spanish. In one scene we could tell the grandmother was missing her husband, who I assume has passed away, and a wild parrot she used to care for. During that winter while her mom and dad were at work, she would spend her days with her grandma. Ma's Spanish wasn't that good, she she couldn't tell her grandma everything she wanted to tell her. So they usually sat and watched TV, and went out for walks. One day she told her mom that her and her grandmother couldn't understand each other and that it was difficult, so her mom reminded her of a girl from her school who went through the same thing to encourage that things would get better. One day after school Mia and her grandmother were cooking and there seemed to be a breakthrough. She pointed to the dough, and her grandmother said dough in English and in Spanish, to help Mia learn the Spanish word as well. So with this Mia labeled important things around the house to help her grandmother say them in English, and they made it into a game. When Mia was passing a pet shop, she noticed this beautiful parrot, and remembered her abuela had one some time ago, so she wanted to get the parrot for her grandmother, and so she wasn't alone when Mia went to school.  They take the parrot home and name him Mango, because his feathers look like that of a mango, and he starts speaking and repeating after them in English and Spanish. They all practiced new words each day and both their languages were getting stronger, so much so that the grandmother can talk with the neighbors and not always be by herself. In the end we see that the three have grown a great bond, and both are able to speak in the other's language with minimal help.

I liked how this book incorporated English and Spanish, I think it would help students develop their Spanish vocabulary. I would use this book to help students develop fluency and a few Spanish words. I would also have them see how a little effort can go a long way and that it can help both people. Because in this story we saw that the Mia taught her grandmother English, and her grandmother taught her Spanish. I think if my classroom had students who spoke different languages, I would incorporate that into a lesson, where we learn about the language(s) they may know, and that could be our class project. I think this book works great for children in Kindergarten-2nd grade, since they're still learning English, it wouldn't hurt them to know a few words in another language. I also remember one of my teachers telling me it's easier for students to learn at a young age, because they're not worried about pronouncing it wrong, and it's easier for them to pick up. I also think this would be a great chance for my students, who don't have English as their first language a chance to shine and tell us some things they know.