Children recall some of the best moments they’ve had with their grandmothers and mothers. It shows the love and bond that mothers and grandmothers have with their children and grandchildren. ( )

“Love to Mama,” was an okay book. The authors did an excellent job writing the collections of poetry. I just didn't care for the book. I would use the book as an example in my future classes though because the authors did use a lot of different poetry elements. The voice of the poetry collection is narrative. The story is told through a little girl and all the things that she loves about her mother and her grandmother. The most common element we see throughout the collections is end rhyme. There is a simile used in the poem named, “My Tongue Is Like a Map,” not only is the title a simile, but there are several other ones used in the poem. One that I like says, “My ears were like a radio, so many stations.” I just find this one interesting because we all hear so much that sometimes we can’t tune out the sounds. Not my favorite book that I have read but still a good book. ( )

Love to mama a tribute to mothers is a collection of poems written by different Latino- American poets about their Mamas and Abuelitas. Each page has poems that talk about different memories or depicts how the poet sees their mother or grandmother. Each mother in the poems was very different from each other. Each poet had their own style of writing as well. Some of the poems contained Spanish words, one was written in Spanish, and some didn’t even use Spanish at all. Some poems rhymed and others were written as a narrative. My favorite poem from the collection was “Growing Up” by Liz Ann Beaz Aguilar. The poem is about how the poet’s mother supports her in anything she wants to do. “ And what if I become a teacher? /M’ija, you will teach /your students to read every day. “ ( )

I really liked this book for a few reasons. First, it had a very authentic tone to it. By that I mean, all of the poems are written by different Latino poets and the poems are a tribute to their (grand) mothers. This makes each individual poem seem more special and genuine. For example, one of the poems is titled, Hidden in abuelitas soft arms. That poem is about the poet’s memories of being a little boy nestled in his grandmother’s arms as she held him. Another thing I like about this book is the language. The poems are mainly written in English, but include Spanish words here and there. For example, one of the poem reads, “when mi mama cubana cooks arroz con pollo, her smile is wider than a slice of watermelon. “I like that the author incorporates the Spanish words into the poems, to help maintain the authenticity of it. Lastly, the author included a glossary in the book with the pronunciation and definitions of all the Spanish words throughout the book. This is very helpful, especially to someone who does not know any Spanish at all. The main message of this book is, mothers are a treasure and they can do anything.

While this is a cute compliation, it is hard to keep some children interested in it due to constantly having to translate from Spanish to English throughout the book. ( )