Nana’s Big Surprise / Nana, ¡Qué Sorpresa!

By Amada Irma Perez, Maya Gonzalez
Paperback: $11.95

Bilingual English/Spanish. Amada and her brothers try to comfort their grandmother, Nana, who has come to stay with them in the US from Mexico after abuelo passes away.

Description

Nana’s move from Mexico should be a joyous occasion. But this summer Nana is coming to California because Tata, beloved husband and abuelo, has died. Amada and her five brothers hope to cheer her up with a surprise-a coop full of fluffy yellow chicks, just like the ones Nana raised with Tata in Mexico. But no matter how hard everyone tries to make Nana feel better, it seems like nothing can bring a smile to her face. That is, until one day the chicks reveal a surprise of their own.

Award-winning author Amada Irma Pérez gently explores universal themes of family, love, loss, and memory in this third collaboration with artist Maya Christina Gonzalez, whose bold and beautiful collage paintings leap from the page. Nana’s Big Surprise offers comfort, feathers, and even laughter to readers of all ages.

About the Creators

Amada Irma Perez

Amada Irma Pérez is a third-grade teacher in Oxnard, California, and a leading advocate of programs encouraging multicultural understanding. Like many of her students, Amada Irma was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a young child. My Very Own Room is based on her own family story. She lives with her family in Ventura, California.

Maya Gonzalez

Maya Gonzalez is an award-winning children’s book artist, author, activist and progressive educator. Their work addresses systemic inequity in relation to race/ethnicity, sexism, and cissexism using children’s books as radical agents of change and healing, both personally and culturally. Gonzalez co-founded Reflection Press, a POC, queer and trans owned independent publishing house that uses holistic, nature-based, and anti-oppression frameworks in their books and materials for kids and grown-ups. They are also the creator of the Gender Wheel, a tool to express the dynamic, infinite and inclusive reality of gender, and provides lectures and workshops to educators, parents and caregivers. Visit them online at mayagonzalez.com.

Awards

  • Tejas Star Reading List

    Texas Library Association (TLA)

  • Américas Award Commended Title

    Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs

Reviews

  • "Beautifully written. . . This poignant tale of family love and grieving is ideal for reading aloud in either language, especially to children coping with deep losses of their own."

    - Booklist

Paperback

  • ISBN 9780892393077
  • Price $11.95
  • Publication Date May 01, 2014
  • Trim Size 9.7 × 8.2 × 1 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Interests

  • Imprint Children's Book Press
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Family / Multigenerational
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Social Themes / Death, Grief, Bereavement
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings
  • Themes Animals, Bilingual, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Collaboration, Conflict resolution, Coping with Death, Empathy / Compassion, Families, Fiction, Grandparents, Home, Immigration, Kindness / Caring, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Realistic Fiction, Sharing & Giving, Siblings
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 8 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades 3 - 5
  • Guided Reading O
  • ATOS Book Level 3.9
  • DRA 34
  • Interest Level Grades 3 - 5
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

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