A Gift from Abuela by Cecilia Ruiz – Book Giveaway – Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Jan. 25, 2019

Official hashtag: #ReadYourWorld

A Gift from Abuela

Cecilia Ruiz, Author and Illustrator

Candlewick Press, Fiction, 2018

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes: Intergenerational relationships, Love, Kindness, Change, Multicultural

Book Giveaway: All you have to do is leave a comment and let me know that you would like to receive a copy of A Gift from Abuela and I will enter you in the drawing, which will be done on Feb. 2. I will announce Feb.  4. You must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada.

Opening: Abuela would never forget the day Niña was born. It was an unusual day in Mexico City. On this day, the sky was clear and the streets were still.

Synopsis:

The first time Abuela held Niña, her heart overflowed with tenderness. And as Niña grows up, she and Abuela have a lot of fun together doing simple things. Abuela decides that she wants to buy Niña a special treat, so she saves a little bit of her money every week. But then something terrible happens, and Abuela’s dream of a surprise for Niña seems impossible. Luckily, the time they spend together and the love they have for each other are the very best gifts of all.

Why I like this Book:

Cecilia Ruiz’s is a heartwarming intergenerational story about a girl and her Mexican grandmother. Niña and Abuela spend a lot of time together. They dance, make up silly songs, shop, make papel picado banners, and eat pan dulce in  the park together. Abuela’s love for Niña pours off the pages.

The author gently addresses how life gets harder for Abuela in Mexico because of governmental economic changes. Suddenly the cost of living rises, food costs more and the pesos Abuela has lovingly saved for Niña become worthless. Even relationships shift. Abuela is older and Niña plays more with her friends after school. But the bond of love and kindness is always strong and Niña has an even bigger surprise for Abuela.

The narrative is lyrical, timeless and a springboard for Ruiz’s soft, comforting and expressive pastel illustrations. Her book is beautifully designed. The rich content will lead to creative discussions with children at home or in the classroom. The story is peppered with Spanish words.

Resources: Make traditional Mexican papel picado banners like Abuela teaches Niña. These festive decorations are usually made of layers of tissue paper. View HappyThoughts YouTube video to learn how to fold and cut the papers.

Cecilia Ruiz is an author, illustrator and graphic designer who received an MFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She also is the author and illustrator of The Book of Memory Gaps.. She was born and raised in Mexico City and now lives in Brooklyn.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors participating.

Medallion Level Sponsors

Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board

Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini

Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LeUyen Pham, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup, Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground.

TWITTER PARTY, will be held on Friday, Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. EST. Be sure and follow @McChildsBookDay on Twitter to participate, and look for the #ReadYourWorld hashtag. There will be great discussion encouraging questions and tons of great prizes too. Hope to see you there! The party is sponsored by Make A Way Media.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

*Review copy from the publisher.