Book Review: Mango, Abuela and Me by Meg Medina

Book Name: Mango, Abuela and me 

Author: Meg Medina 

Illustrator : Angela Dominguez

Recommended age: 4 plus 

Meg Medina wrote Mango Abuela and Me based on her own life experiences with her Grandmother and is a Pura Belpré Honour award winner for both the author and illustrator. With bright and expressive illustrations the story of this exceptional picture Book goes like this :

Mia belongs to a Latino family and lives with her papi ( father ) , Mami ( mother ) and Edmund her pet hamster . Her far-away grandmother ( what Mia calls her ) leaves her sunny house with parrots and palm trees to come live with Mia and her parents in the city. 

Mia shares her room with Abuela ( grandmother ), that night Mia reads her favourite storybook to Abuela, but she doesn’t understand, the reason being Abuela understands and speaks only Espanol ( Spanish ) and not English. Day after day Mia finds it difficult to communicate with Abuela. 

One day Mia decides to teach Abuela English and starts her lessons one by one, right from teaching simple words/names of things they come across every day to sticking word cards everywhere in the room, Mia tries to execute her work not only by teaching English but at the same time learning Spanish from Abuela. 

But, one day her visit to a pet shop with mom to buy seeds for Edmund her hamster, gives her a better idea to make Abuela more comfortable in learning English. What idea did Mia get at the pet shop and how Abuela and Mia got along together without any barrier in communication is the rest of the story. 

Book Review : 

The story that tells us the importance of a family. A story that connects well with our day-to-day life as a family. Grandparents love is always special to each one of us, whatever our age is. The visual of myself teaching my grandmother how to operate a TV remote came in now and then while reading the story. It emphasizes the importance of communication and working together to find a solution to the problem. 

With vivid illustrations the story conveys a beautiful message “El amor no tiene lenguaje” ( love has no language ).  A must-have in everyone’s library.