Grandma's Gift

Velasquez, E. (2010). Grandma’s gift. New York: Walker.

Awards: Pura Belpre, 2011.

 

Just like Dave the Potter and Always Room for One More, Grandma’s Gift has a story behind the story. I didn’t read the back first like I usually do when previewing a book, so was pleasantly surprised when I read about the author and found out this was autobiographical. The story centers on the main character, Eric, who goes to visit his grandmother during Christmas break. He accompanies her to various stores to get just the right ingredients to make her famous pasteles. The detail in the illustrations showing how she makes them and the Spanish words incorporated throughout this book add flavor to the story. But the height of Eric’s visit is when they go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a class assignment, and Eric’s grandmother recognizes a figure in a portrait. It is there that Eric learns a little more about his heritage. Teaching memoir writing can sometimes be difficult, but this book is a great tool for showing that memoir writing can be engaging and fun for both the writer and the reader. I enjoyed reading not only about Eric’s experiences and feelings as he went with his grandmother from store to store, but also how she had trepidations about going to an unfamiliar place. However, when she arrived she found something she was knowledgeable about and her fears vanished. I can relate to those feelings on many occasions, and seeing it in the expressions on her face made the book more meaningful to me. The historical information and Spanish explanations at the end were an added benefit.