Julia Waterlow

This is a quick little book about a Guatemalan family and how they live. The book has an interesting blend of few words and large pictures, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The images combine with the short blurbs of information to allow even pre-readers to understand some of the finer details of living in rural Guatemala.

Reading a book like this is a good way for younger children to really appreciate how much they actually have and how children their age live in other parts of the world. A lesson that should be taught by discerning parents. This was a library find by my two-year-old, who has been working the non-fiction shelves lately. Always a unique experience to see what she finds at her level in the library!… (mere)

Summary:

The book is a biography/informational text that explores the life of the Calabays family from Guatemala. The book offers geographical information about Guatemala as well as personal information looking at the culture, customs and life of the Calabays family. The Calabays family is an ordinary Maya family that has a household size of five people that consists of a father and mother with two young daughters and a son. They live in a small hut on the side of a hill, high in the mountains of Guatemala. Below their home is their village, San Antonio de Palopo, where they farm and grow food for a living. The book goes on to tell about the family’s home, life, food customs, work life, school, and pastimes. This book explores their life at home, work, in school, in the community and in their future.

Comments (opinions/arguments):

This book offers so much information on family life in Guatemala. It also gives a lot of geographical information on the town and different areas and villages of Guatemala. I really loved all of the wonderful real life pictures that were incorporated to really give the reader a sense of what life is like for the average Maya family. I think this book is great for children to learn about different families and cultures around the world. This book could be seen as both a biography and informational text because it tells a story about a real family, but also offers a lot of information on Guatemala and its culture. I really like that the book has an introduction on Guatemala and a separate introduction on the Calabays family. It also offers a table of contents because each page covers a different topic of interest. It also incorporates a glossary of terms that are related to Maya culture. I think this is great because some children might not know what some terms mean. The glossary can help students become familiar with new words that pertain to this culture. It also has a pronunciation guide to help students pronounce Spanish related words used throughout the text. Overall this book is a great resource for learning about culture and families in Guatemala.… (mere)