Alfredito and his family are getting ready to return to their old home in El Salvador for Christmas, their first time back since they left as refugees. But they will make this trip on a plane — the first time any of them has ever flown. The excitement mounts as they drive to the airport, get on the plane and fly up into the air, each step bringing an increasing level of amazement. But the greatest moment of all is when they finally arrive and their beloved relatives meet them. Their old house looks and feels as it always did. The smells, the food, the new puppies, the familiar plants and flowers fill Alfredito's heart with a sense of belonging and joy.
Alfredito and his family are getting ready to return to their old home in El Salvador for Christmas, their first time back since they left as refugees. But they will make this trip on a plane — the first time any of them has ever flown. The excitement mounts as they drive to the airport, get on the plane and fly up into the air, each step bringing an increasing level of amazement. But the greatest moment of all is when they finally arrive and their beloved relatives meet them. Their old house looks and feels as it always did. The smells, the food, the new puppies, the familiar plants and flowers fill Alfredito's heart with a sense of belonging and joy.
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Oct 1, 2007 |
| Specifications | 36 pages | 8.13 in x 11.31 in |
| Keywords | Social Issues; Emigration & Immigration; Family; People & Places; Caribbean & Latin America; |
| Written By |
JORGE ARGUETA, a Pipil Nahua Indian from El Salvador and Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, is a prize-winning author of more than twenty children’s books. His book Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List, ALA Notable Children’s Books and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices. Jorge is the founder of the International Children's Poetry Festival Manyula and the Library of Dreams, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy in El Salvador. Jorge divides his time between San Francisco, California, and El Salvador. |
| Illustrated by |
LUIS GARAY is a celebrated Nicaraguan illustrator. He now lives in Mexico. |
| Written By |
|
JORGE ARGUETA, a Pipil Nahua Indian from El Salvador and Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, is a prize-winning author of more than twenty children’s books. His book Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List, ALA Notable Children’s Books and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices. Jorge is the founder of the International Children's Poetry Festival Manyula and the Library of Dreams, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy in El Salvador. Jorge divides his time between San Francisco, California, and El Salvador. |
| Illustrated by |
|
LUIS GARAY is a celebrated Nicaraguan illustrator. He now lives in Mexico. |
| Audience | ages 4 to 9 / grades P to 4 |
| Reading Levels | Lexile 700L |
Commended, Americas Award Commended List, 2008
“...formal, realistic acrylic paintings.” —School Library Journal
“Speaking in Alfredito's young voice, Argueta tells a warm, understated story about moving between cultures. Through the details of packing and preparations, Argueta skillfully reveals the family's complex feelings of separation and excitement, and Garay's acrylic paintings extend the story's action and emotion with realistic portraits of the families and homes. An important story about the immigrant experience to share with children of all backgrounds.” —Booklist