Braids/Trencitas Book

Este cuento bilingüe muestra la importancia de la familia y de la lectura, a la misma vez que enfatiza el valor de la herencia cultural. Con sus ilustraciones simpáticas y accesibles, retrata la historia conmovedora de Bela y su abuela. Juntas se cuentan historias la una a la otra, se trenzan el pelo y juegan a la lotería con los otros miembros de la familia: "Nuestras historias, como nuestras trenzas, nos unen para siempre".

School Library Journal

K-Gr-3–Isabela enjoys every waking moment that she spends with her abuela when she comes to visit. She marvels when her grandmother combs out her long braid that “flowed in soft ripples down to her waist.” Braiding Isabela’s hair, she weaves colorful ribbons matched by equally colorful tales of all types, inspiring the child to write her own. Each time Isabela asks Abuela to read a story she has written, the woman finds an excuse until Abuela finally confesses that she is “a storyteller, not a reader,” and Isabela cleverly uses the lotería (a bingo-like game from Mexico) to teach her how to read. Lindmark’s colorful acrylic illustrations capture the unique bonds of an abuela-nieta relationship as well as the love and warmth of a young girl nurtured by a loving Latino family in modern-day America. Children familiar with the lotería game will enjoy Rene Colato’s Playing Lotería/El juego de la lotería (Luna Rising, 2009). For a similar “grandmother learning to read” story, also see Eve Bunting’s The Wednesday Surprise (Clarion, 1989).–Oralia Garza de Cortés, Latino Children’s Literature Consultant, Pasadena, CA