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hollyxbear's review
5.0
This book was amazing. It warmed my heart while simultaneously breaking it. Absolutely worth the read.
kayleeacton's review
5.0
Between Us and Abuela is about a family that is separated by border during the Christmas time. Maria and her younger brother Juan travel with their mother to go visit their grandmother across the border. They were given a short time to talk to their abuela, but the time goes too fast. The children want to give her a scarf and a drawing, but the guards would not let them. Maria comes up with the idea to turn it into an airplane to get it over the border. The abuela takes the picture with her and heads home, just as the others do. This was an emotional story that held such pain and longing. I would read this story in front of the class, if possible, before the Christmas break. It would give a good windows and mirrors moment for many children. Not every family celebrates the same and many do not have a family to celebrate with.
bickie's review
4.0
Centered around Las Posadas.
Problem-solving (how to get picture to abuela on other side of fence?)
Problem-solving (how to get picture to abuela on other side of fence?)
carolineinthelibrary's review
5.0
I had the pleasure of meeting Mitali Perkins at a conference and hearing her talk about this story, which was just in previews at the time, made me want to read it so badly! It's a beautiful story about a family separated by the border wall who want nothing more than to celebrate Christmas together. I loved the story and the charming pictures. It's a bit long for a story time but I would absolutely recommend it for parents to read to their children.
jaij7's review
5.0
Beautiful book. I found a new holiday to celebrate, La Posada sin Fronteras. “In recent decades, Posadas have increasingly been adapted as advocacy tools for social justice causes, from homelessness (Imperial Beach California), to a celebration of recent laws legalizing street vending (the East Side Development Corporation in Los Angeles), to an annual Posada co-sponsored by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network in Washington, D.C., that includes a moment of silence for migrants in front of the US Supreme Court.” CSMonitor.com
lattelibrarian's review
5.0
Equal parts adorable and idealistic, this book makes for a great tale for helping children understand just how and why families look different in different situations. Take for instance Juan and Maria's family--they live with their mom, but the only time they can visit their grandmother is in half hour increments through a chainlink fence. But when Maria and Juan realize that they can't give their grandmother any gifts, Maria gets creative and constructs a kite to send over their gifts. After all, it's not going through the border, but over! Idealistically, the border guards are in full support of this loophole, and have large hearts regarding these children.
It seems a little too idealistic to me as an adult, but hey, why not hope for kindness and show solidarity and compassion? Is that not what we should be striving for anyways?
With cute earth-toned cartoons, these illustrations truly show Maria's inventive genius and the emotions displayed by the family as the difficulties rise and resolve. Overall, this is a great book that offers a semi-realistic (and therefore more realistic than others) depiction of families separated by the border.
Review cross-listed here!
It seems a little too idealistic to me as an adult, but hey, why not hope for kindness and show solidarity and compassion? Is that not what we should be striving for anyways?
With cute earth-toned cartoons, these illustrations truly show Maria's inventive genius and the emotions displayed by the family as the difficulties rise and resolve. Overall, this is a great book that offers a semi-realistic (and therefore more realistic than others) depiction of families separated by the border.
Review cross-listed here!
mnstucki's review
4.0
Lovely! Adding it to my list of books to get each year for read-alouds with my first graders as we talk about holiday traditions around the world, as it introduces Las Posadas albeit in an unusual context.
adamrshields's review
5.0
Summary: A young girl, her brother, and mother visit the San Diego border to celebrate Las Posadas and see their Grandmother through the border fence at Christmas. A great book to spark a conversation.
I read this tonight for the first time with my 5-year-old. I am intentionally filling my kids' library not just with books, but books that will lead to conversations. Between Us and Abuela is a book that is going to take several readings to get through the conversations that it should bring up.
The short version of Between Us and Abuela is that a girl, her brother, and mother go to the border to see their grandmother and celebrate Las Posadas (the commemoration of Mary and Joseph looking for a room in Jerusalem right before Christmas.) There is an annual commemoration on the US/Mexico border called La Posada Sin Frontera. The tradition is adapted, so family and friends gather along the border wall in San Diego/Tijuana, hear the Christmas story, sing songs and see family across the fence.
The children and their mother have not seen their grandmother in five years. My five year old asked how long that was, I reminded her that she is five years old.
The family is allowed 30 minutes to go inside an outer fence so that there is only an inner fence that separates the family. My daughter, of course, asks why they are separated. I will approach this in several different ways as we re-read the book. But it matters that the story naturally leads to the right types of questions.
They are not allowed to pass anything through the fence. The girl understands that she is not allowed to give her Grandmother the scarf that she knitted for her. The younger brother has made a picture for his grandmother and is distraught about the fact he can not give it to her. This leads the girl to design a quick kite with the yarn and knitting needles that she has brought along that can fly over the fence (and which the border patrol does not prevent since they are technically not violating the rules of passing anything through the wall.)
I kept myself under control, but I was on the edge of tears throughout the second half of the book. Family matters, and this book shows that well.
The art is beautifully done and matches the light Christmas theme of the book. Mitali Perkins is a Christian and has written both explicitly Christian books and books that are less overt in their Christian message. Between Us and Abuela is a book that hints about Christianity, other than being set expressly at Christmas.
Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins, Illustrated by Sara Palacios Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition
I read this tonight for the first time with my 5-year-old. I am intentionally filling my kids' library not just with books, but books that will lead to conversations. Between Us and Abuela is a book that is going to take several readings to get through the conversations that it should bring up.
The short version of Between Us and Abuela is that a girl, her brother, and mother go to the border to see their grandmother and celebrate Las Posadas (the commemoration of Mary and Joseph looking for a room in Jerusalem right before Christmas.) There is an annual commemoration on the US/Mexico border called La Posada Sin Frontera. The tradition is adapted, so family and friends gather along the border wall in San Diego/Tijuana, hear the Christmas story, sing songs and see family across the fence.
The children and their mother have not seen their grandmother in five years. My five year old asked how long that was, I reminded her that she is five years old.
The family is allowed 30 minutes to go inside an outer fence so that there is only an inner fence that separates the family. My daughter, of course, asks why they are separated. I will approach this in several different ways as we re-read the book. But it matters that the story naturally leads to the right types of questions.
They are not allowed to pass anything through the fence. The girl understands that she is not allowed to give her Grandmother the scarf that she knitted for her. The younger brother has made a picture for his grandmother and is distraught about the fact he can not give it to her. This leads the girl to design a quick kite with the yarn and knitting needles that she has brought along that can fly over the fence (and which the border patrol does not prevent since they are technically not violating the rules of passing anything through the wall.)
I kept myself under control, but I was on the edge of tears throughout the second half of the book. Family matters, and this book shows that well.
The art is beautifully done and matches the light Christmas theme of the book. Mitali Perkins is a Christian and has written both explicitly Christian books and books that are less overt in their Christian message. Between Us and Abuela is a book that hints about Christianity, other than being set expressly at Christmas.
Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins, Illustrated by Sara Palacios Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition