My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito - Softcover

Short, Deborah J; Tinajero, Josefina Villamil; Schifini, Alfredo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0892391642 ISBN 13: 9780892391646

Publisher: National Geographic School Pub, 2001

Synopsis

My Very Own Room/Mi propio cuartito

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Short is a division director at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C. She has worked as a teacher, trainer, researcher, and curriculum/materials developer. Her work at CAL has concentrated on the integration of language learning with content-area instruction. Through several national projects, she has conducted research and provided professional development and technical assistance to local and state education agencies across the United States. She directed the ESL Standards and Assessment Project for TESOL and co-developed the SIOP model for sheltered instruction.

Dr. Tinajero specializes in staff development and school-university partnership programs and has consulted with school districts in the U.S. to design ESL, bilingual, literacy, and bi-literacy programs. She has served on state and national advisory committees for standards development, including the English as a New Language Advisory Panel of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and the Texas Reading Academies. She is currently professor of Education and Interim Dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso and was President of the National Association for Bilingual Education, 1997-2000.

Dr. Schifini assists schools across the nation and around the world in developing comprehensive language and literacy programs for English learners. He has worked as an ESL teacher, reading specialist, school administrator and university professor. Through an arrangement with California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Dr. Schifini currently serves as program consultant to two large teacher-training efforts in the area of reading for second language speakers of English. His research interests include early literacy and language development and the integration of language and content-area instruction.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-In the tradition of Elizabeth Starr Hill's Evan's Corner (Puffin, 1993), the nine-year-old protagonist of this story longs for a room of her own in the crowded house she shares with her parents, five brothers, and frequent guests. When the child sets her sights on a small storage closet, the whole family helps to make her dream room a reality. This bilingual book is based on an incident from the author's childhood, and it reads more like a brief autobiographical essay than a picture book. The story lacks tension since the main conflict is resolved quickly, but it does show that a child's need for privacy doesn't preclude being a loving family member. Gonzalez's rich, robust illustrations heighten the otherwise quiet story. Smiling Mexican-American children with rounded body curves and widened facial features march across pages splashed with bold brush strokes of primary colors. A deserving purchase for bilingual and larger picture-book collections.
Denise E. Agosto, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tired of sharing a room with her five brothers, an eight-year-old Mexican American girl longs to find a corner of the house she can call her own ("a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream"). She persuades her mother to let her take up residence in a storage room, and the whole family gets involved in refurbishing the new space. An uncle who is heading back to Mexico donates his bed; one brother finds a wooden crate to use for a bookcaseAand the books come from the library. Based on Perez's own childhood, this bilingual picture book paints an affectionate portrait of life in a big family that often provides a home base to newly arriving relatives and friends ("There was always a long line to use the bathroom, but the toilet seat was always warm") and offers strong testimony to the heroine's resourcefulness. Gonzalez's (Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems) warm palette, simple lines and uncluttered images flow through the story like a series of murals. This inspiring tale will resonate with anyone who's ever wished for a room of one's own or worked hard to achieve an important goal. Ages 6-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"I woke up one morning in a crowded bed in a crowded room," begins this warm bilingual story of a young Mexican American girl's search for her own space in an overflowing house. Because the eight-year-old narrator shares a room with five brothers, she climbs trees to find quiet and longs for a room of her own. Behind a flour-sack curtain, she finds a storage closet with possibilities: "I imagined it with my own bed, table, and lamp--a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream." Working together "like a mighty team of powerful ants," the family moves the closet's contents to the back porch and helps the girl create her own room. The naive-style, tropical-colored paintings, reminiscent in places of mural art, illustrate the frustrations of too-little space, the tenderness between the girl and her mother, and the family's loving resourcefulness within the cheerful chaos. An excellent choice for libraries in Hispanic and migrant communities, this book will resonate with all young ones growing up with limited space and resources. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic School Pub
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892391642
• ISBN 13: 9780892391646
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 30