Islandborn

Picture book, 48 pages. Published by Dial Books in 2018. A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration.

Recap & Review

I love this book - it's one to add to your child's library!

Ms. Obi asks the children to draw a picture of your first country from memory, but what if you don't remember?

At the heart of this story is the connection Lola makes to her identity through the memories her family and friends share with her.

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PARENTS' SIMPLICITY CREDO
Love people and admire our differences!

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Reading Suggestions

This book is filled with both the sly humor of a child navigating  her place in a class of very diverse children, as well as the literal images conjured by her imagination of others' memories - blanket bats, mangoe heads, sleeping dancers, sweetly hilarious! 

I have three suggestions for reading this book with your kiddos -

• The depth of the text and illustrations is perfect for taking your time to read and explore over and over - just the way younger children like to share a book!
• Use the illustrations as a jumping off point for your own child to draw something from memory; Marvin Bartel, Goshen University Professor Emeritus, has some excellent ideas about How To Teach a Child to Draw worthy of your time.
• Older children might be interested in learning more about the Dominican Republic after reading Islandborn. Embracing Diversity has a great introductory post: Teaching Children About Dominican Culture During Hispanic Heritage Month.
  

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Diaz & Espinosa

Diaz earned  both the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for The Brief  Life of Oscar Wao. Islandborn is his first children's picture book.

Espinosa received the Pura Belpré Award for Illustration for Islandborn! This award is presented annually to a Latino/Latina illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

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