'Papá and Me' chronicles a day in the life of a young boy and his father as they attend to various errands around the city, creating their own adventures until finally drawing the day to an close at the house of the boy's Abuela and Abuelo. The majority of the text is in English but the boy uses various actions or simple translation to restate the Spanish dialogue of his Papá. Every activity that the pair engages in is depicted as a brilliant, swirling, curving event, with illustrations that are reminiscent of traditional Latino art forms. They climb trees together, share stories on the bus, and draw in the sand - all the while smiling and embracing each other. This story validates single-parenting and those experiences of bilingual children who serve as cultural brokers between their parents and the outside world. In this story, a family's love is in no way limited by its small size in comparison to more 'traditional' nuclear forms and larger families. I loved loved loved the illustrations in this book and I loved the relationship between father and son. I liked the back and forth between the two, the Spanish that his father spoke and the boy's understanding of it. There were a couple of times that the explanation of the Spanish felt like a translation instead of part of the boy's voice/thoughts, which brought made it less than 100% perfect for me, but I still felt like this is one of the best books representing language in intergenerational U.S. Latin@ families that I've gotten my hands on. It is also true, as a couple of people have noted, that there isn't exactly a narrative to this book, but I don't think that's a problem since there are a ton of children's books that aren't stories, just showing things and sharing experiences. That said, I did think it COULD have had a little more narrative to it and held together even a little more. In the end, I think this was more 4.5 than 4, but I am being stingy with my stars today.
What do You think about Papá And Me (2008)?
Father and son have a day together. Includes Spanish words. Great movement in the paintings.
—arthur101
Great illustrations and excellent connection between spanish and english.
—Rose
Bilingual. Another look at a family and what they do together in a day.
—Clover76
