Perfect Picture Book Friday
Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2019) by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Sara Palacios is a good story to introduce what’s it like to have family on opposite sides of the line between two countries. And it’s still a timely story.
Maria and her little brother Juan have not seen their grandmother for five years. Maria and her mother knit a scarf for Abuela and Juan makes a picture. But when they are at the fence of the border and get to see their grandmother nothing can be passed through. Juan is brokenhearted. Maria turns his picture into a kite and they fly it across the border.
Mitali has lived in six countries and knows what it is like to leave people behind. Read about her here and check out her books here. Plus, she’s one really nice lady–I got to meet her in February.
See Sara’s illustrations here. Read about her here and see her many books here.