A CAT'S LIFE IN EAST L.A.

Chato is a hungry “low-riding” cat from East Los Angeles, whose new neighbors are a family of tasty mice. At first, the mice are afraid of Chato, but he pretends to be friendly and invites the family to dinner. Chato and his equally hungry friend Novio Boy are delighted that so many mice are coming to be their dinner and they prepare a huge fancy feast to accompany the main course. Both cats are very surprised at the mice family's special guest! CHATO'S KITCHEN by Gary Soto does a wonderful job of integrating the multilingual heritage of Chato and the other characters throughout the book. Especially helpful is the glossary at the front of the book, explaining certain Spanish words that appear at various times in the book, and also describes some of the food Chato and Novio Boy prepare for the feast. A great story for 2nd - 4th grades .

WHO IS CESAR CHAVEZ?

HARVESTING HOPE: THE STORY OF CESAR CHAVEZ written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales is a beautifully illustrated, very wordy picture book about the life of Cesar Chavez, starting from when he was a very young boy enjoying life with his family in Arizona. The text does a good job of retelling Chavez’s history, and appeals to audiences of all ages. There are a lot of good vocabulary-building terms, and readers will come away with more than a story of Cesar Chavez's life. The illustrations were given the Pura Belpre honor, and the beautiful artwork incorporates hand-made stamps and computer generated cut-outs. The scenes are realistic and the colors have deep earth tones. Not all picture books are for small children, and this title is perfect for 3rd grade and up.

FESTIVE FOOD FOR THE HOLIDAYS

This is a story about Maria and her family's holiday tradition - making tamales. Maria tries on her mother’s wedding ring while making the masa for the tamales and thinks she loses it in the dough. Rather than telling her mother she fears she has lost her wedding ring in the masa, Maria forces her cousins to help her eat through 24 tamales. TOO MANY TAMALES by Gary Soto is a delightful holiday tale, mixing English with Spanish words for ingredients and a little life lesson thrown in for spice. A great story for all ages, but especially for 1st - 4th graders.