MOTHERS WEEK: FLOATING ON MAMA’S SONG / FLOTANDO EN LA CANCION DE MAMA by Laura Lacamara

  

This week the Latina Book Club has celebrated Mothers with books with strong, courageous Mamás. 

We began with our Book of the Month, THE CRUEL COUNTRY. We hope you have enjoyed our selections.  

Feel free to share your favorite “Mother” book with us.  

Here now is our final selection.  Happy Reading.  Happy Mothers Week!

Singing makes me so happy. – Mamá

Laura Lacamara has written a sweet, magical children’s book inspired by her mother, who was an opera singer in Havana.  Lacamara’s book comes to live with the vibrant and amazing illustrations from talented illustrator Yuyi Morales.  Readers of all ages will enjoy this book again and again.  And, best of all, the book is bilingual -- written in both English and Spanish.    

BOOK SUMMARY:  Anita comes home from school on her seventh birthday to find her mother singing opera and floating in the air.  Everyone who hears the music is happy and floats too, including their dog and the neighbors’ animals.  But the neighbors don’t like the singing or the flying and complain loudly.  Abuela scolds her daughter and orders her to stop singing.  Now Mamá is sad and soon everyone, including Anita and the animals, are miserable too. And it will take an unusual incident for Anita, Mamá and Abuela to realize what a special gift all the women in the family have, and be proud of it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Cuban-born Laura Lacámara is the award-winning author and illustrator.  She wrote FLOATING ON MAMA’S SONG / FLOTANDO EN LA CANCION DE MAMA, a bilingual picture book inspired by her mother, who was an opera singer in Havana. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales and published by HarperCollins, this book was a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2010 and was a Tejas Star Book Award Finalist for 2011 - 2012.  Visit her at http://www.lauralacamara.com.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:
Yuyi Morales has won the Pura Belpre Medal several times for her illustrations.  She’s also been the recipient of the Christopher Award and the Jane Adams Award, the SCBWI Golden Kite Medal, the Americas Award, the California book Award, and the Tomas Rivera Award won in 2004 and 2008. Visit her at www.yuyimorales.com.