This book tells the sweet story of a young Cuban-American girl who wishes she could visit her grandpa more, who lives in Cuba. The illustrations in the book are very colorful and they help tell the story. The book is also written in Spanglish, which I think is really great! It helps the reader understand what it is like to live the life this little girl has. ( )

A Song of Frutas is a children's book representing Cuban culture and the difficulties that come from travel restrictions to visiting Cuba. Using vibrant a imagery a young girl describes her visit with her grandpa that includes both fruits and foods from Cuban culture. She spends New Years with her Grandpa and expresses her wish for countries to be friends to be able to visit her grandpa more. This book does a great job representing Cuban culture and the challenges for some families to visit one another. This is age appropriate for intermediate grade levels. ( )

This book is unique because it is a story about a girl's experience visiting her Abuelo in Cuba. One of this book's strengths is that it incorporates Spanish vocabulary in addition to English which highlights the truth about the mixture of language used in Cuba. It also draws on the truth of what day to day work looks like for people outside of the U.S., and the difficulty that can come with visiting family who live outside of the U.S. This book is realistic fiction, and is good for intermediate readers. ( )

This was a very interesting look at the Cuban culture, particularly the open-air markets. There are lots of things to learn, and new words to discover. In the back matter the author talks about why they wrote the book in a mix of English and Spanish, and about where the story comes from, travel restrictions, and the custom of eating 12 grapes on New Year’s Eve. It was a wonderfully entertaining and educational story. ( )

"When we visit Abuelo, I help him sell frutas." A little girl delights in her visits to her grandfather in Cuba; they chant the names of las frutas en español: mango, limón, coco, melón, naranja, toronja, plátano, piña. It's a vibrant, colorful street scene full of vendors and customers (even some who lower baskets down from their balconies). The narrator says that her favorite visits are "on the eve of el año nuevo," when everyone wants to buy and eat twelve grapes (uvas) per person, for good luck in the new year; the girl wishes for "friendship between countries, so that we can visit mi abuelo more often," and maybe someday he can visit them too. In the meantime, they send letters ("a hug made of words").

Back matter includes an author's note on Spanglish, travel restrictions, los pregoneros (singing vendors), and new year's eve.

See also: Between Us and Abuela by Mitali Perkins ( )