Mango, Abuela, and Me

Mango, Abuela, and Me written by Meg Medina and illustrated by Angela Dominguez (2015)

Mia’s abuela has come to live with them far away from her home. She doesn’t know English, and Mia doesn’t know Spanish. They feed the birds in silence and go home  “mouths as empty as the bread basket”. Little by little they each learn to say words in each other’s language. Then one day, Mia finds a parrot in the pet store which reminds her of the birds her abuela told her about. She buys him and brings him home. They name him Mango because he looks like the fruit. Mango learns both languages and soon Mia and Abuela can speak to each other fluently.

I love this book because it could have been me and my own abuela who had trouble speaking with each other. And I imagine this is true for many other children as well. The addition of the spanish words in the text of the story is perfect! I hope you share this story with all the little ones you know!

Make a parrot friend for yourself. 

Learn a few words while your work on your parrot craft. Colors and Numbers are easy to learn.