Book Description
for A Gift from Abuela by Cecilia Ruiz
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Abuela loves her granddaughter Nina from the moment she is born. The two are often together, making up songs, people-watching in the park, and creating papel picado banners. Abuela secretly begins to save 20 pesos every week so that she can buy a gift for Nina. Years pass. Life gets harder in Mexico and Abuela has no extra money to save. Nina starts spending more time with friends. When the government changes the money, and everyone must turn in their old pesos for new ones, Abuela can’t remember where she put the pesos she saved long ago. One day Nina stops by and, as a surprise, cleans Abuela’s kitchen, discovering the old pesos hidden atop the refrigerator. They’re now worthless, but Nina and Abuela decide to make papel picado banners out of the old bills. Though their world has changed, and they have, too, the love between them remains strong. Muted mixed-media illustrations include details of Abuela’s home and neighborhood, and a family resemblance across generations. (Ages 4–8)
CCBC Choices 2019. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2019. Used with permission.