Bibliographic data
Mora, Pat. Tomas and the Library Lady. New York: Knopf Books For Young Readers, 1997.
Brief plot summary
Tomas and his family travel from Texas to Iowa to harvest crops. He carries out water to his family while they are busy farming. On breaks his grandfather has the children gather all around and tells them stories. He tells Tomas that he is now old enough to visit the library where there are many more stories. The librarian gave Tomas some water and introduced him to a variety of books. She let him check out a couple of books and he took them home to show his grandfather. Tomas has to go back to Texas again and has to tell the librarian goodbye.
Critical analysis
This book, written by Pat Mora, is a cute story about Tomas Rivera, a very distinguished man in the Hispanic culture and literature. He was a migrant worker who valued education and Mora puts a nice spin on this introduction for children.
Like Tomas, many Hispanics are migrant workers. They travel from place to place farming and doing other manual labor work. There is some interlingualism scattered throughout the book as the character Tomas teaches the librarian a few choice words and phrases in Spanish.
Again, the sense of a strong-knit family is apparent in this book. The family travels together and plays together. They all have a close bond, especially the grandfather with the grandchildren, including Tomas.
At the end of the book, Tomas tells the librarian he has to now teach her a sad word, adios. They are leaving to go back to Texas. In a nice gesture, Tomas’ mother bakes the librarian a sweet bread, called in Spanish pan dulce.
Raul Colon illustrated this book. His lined illustrations with warm colors definitely brings a hint of Hispanic look to the book. His illustrations are very serene and simple. He captures Hispanic features on the characters distinctly and different than the librarian, who is Caucasian.
Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Tomas Rivera, who at his death in 1984 was the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, grew up in a migrant family. Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest.
Kirkus Reviews
A charming, true story about the encounter between the boy who would become chancellor at the University of California at Riverside and a librarian in Iowa. Tom s Rivera, child of migrant laborers, picks crops in Iowa in the summer and Texas in the winter, traveling from place to place in a worn old car. Colon's dreamy illustrations capture the brief friendship and its life-altering effects in soft earth tones, using round sculptured shapes that often depict the boy right in the middle of whatever story realm he's entered.
Connections
Discuss what migrant workers are and do some research about where migrant workers worked and what they did.
Read more of Soto’s works.
Mora, Pat. Tomas and the Library Lady. New York: Knopf Books For Young Readers, 1997.
Brief plot summary
Tomas and his family travel from Texas to Iowa to harvest crops. He carries out water to his family while they are busy farming. On breaks his grandfather has the children gather all around and tells them stories. He tells Tomas that he is now old enough to visit the library where there are many more stories. The librarian gave Tomas some water and introduced him to a variety of books. She let him check out a couple of books and he took them home to show his grandfather. Tomas has to go back to Texas again and has to tell the librarian goodbye.
Critical analysis
This book, written by Pat Mora, is a cute story about Tomas Rivera, a very distinguished man in the Hispanic culture and literature. He was a migrant worker who valued education and Mora puts a nice spin on this introduction for children.
Like Tomas, many Hispanics are migrant workers. They travel from place to place farming and doing other manual labor work. There is some interlingualism scattered throughout the book as the character Tomas teaches the librarian a few choice words and phrases in Spanish.
Again, the sense of a strong-knit family is apparent in this book. The family travels together and plays together. They all have a close bond, especially the grandfather with the grandchildren, including Tomas.
At the end of the book, Tomas tells the librarian he has to now teach her a sad word, adios. They are leaving to go back to Texas. In a nice gesture, Tomas’ mother bakes the librarian a sweet bread, called in Spanish pan dulce.
Raul Colon illustrated this book. His lined illustrations with warm colors definitely brings a hint of Hispanic look to the book. His illustrations are very serene and simple. He captures Hispanic features on the characters distinctly and different than the librarian, who is Caucasian.
Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Tomas Rivera, who at his death in 1984 was the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, grew up in a migrant family. Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest.
Kirkus Reviews
A charming, true story about the encounter between the boy who would become chancellor at the University of California at Riverside and a librarian in Iowa. Tom s Rivera, child of migrant laborers, picks crops in Iowa in the summer and Texas in the winter, traveling from place to place in a worn old car. Colon's dreamy illustrations capture the brief friendship and its life-altering effects in soft earth tones, using round sculptured shapes that often depict the boy right in the middle of whatever story realm he's entered.
Connections
Discuss what migrant workers are and do some research about where migrant workers worked and what they did.
Read more of Soto’s works.
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