Tía Isa Wants a Car

by Meg Medina, Claudio Munoz (Illustrator)

Overview

A little girl pitches in to help her tía save up for a big old car — and take the whole family to the beach — in a story told with warmth and sweetness.

Tía Isa wants a car. A shiny green car the same color as the ocean, with wings like a swooping bird. A car to take the whole family to the beach. But saving is hard when everything goes into two piles — one for here and one for Helping Money, so that family members who live far away might join them someday. While Tía Isa saves, her niece does odd jobs for neighbors so she can add her earnings to the stack. But even with her help, will they ever have enough? Meg Medina’s simple, genuine story about keeping in mind those who are far away is written in lovely, lyrical prose and brought to life through Claudio Muñoz’s charming characters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763641566
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/14/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Meg Medina is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and the author of the Newbery Medal winner and Kirkus Prize finalist Merci Suárez Changes Gears, as well as its sequels, Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. She is the author of the young adult novels Burn Baby Burn, which was long-listed for the National Book Award, short-listed for the Kirkus Prize, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, winner of a Pura Belpré Author Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. Her picture books include No More Señora Mimí, illustrated by Brittney Cicchese; Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez; Mango, Abuela, and Me, illustrated by Angela Dominguez, which was both a Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Award Honor Book; and Tía Isa Wants a Car, illustrated by Claudio Muñoz, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Meg Medina lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Claudio Muñoz is an award-winning illustrator who has worked for many newspapers and magazines as well as illustrating several children’s books. Born in Chile, he now lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

The strength of family and the importance of pursuing one's dreams are the bedrock of middle-grade author Medina's (Milagros: Girl from Away) lyrical first picture book.
—Publishers Weekly

Besides the pleasant story, the interwoven Spanish and references to “Helping Money” and families divided by immigration may make the book particularly appealing to immigrant Latino children.
—Kirkus Reviews

The use of Spanish words throughout the book offers a learning tool, and the book can be used to show teamwork and determination. The watercolor illustrations reflect the fun, loving text in this appealing book.
—Library Media Connection

Always true to the child’s viewpoint, the story shows how hard it is to be separated from loved ones and how long it can take to reunite, and the lively, unframed illustrations in pencil, watercolor, and ink extend the sense of warmth and longing, first in the small room the girl shares with her aunt, then in the climax of everyone rushing into the waves, together at last.
—Booklist

The soft watercolor illustrations mirror rather than extend the text, a real strength for children more fluent in Spanish than English; they can visually follow the narrative told primarily in English but sprinkled with familiar phrases. Beginning readers will also find a satisfying story, with illustrations aiding their reading.
—Horn Book

A pleasant selection about ambition, resourcefulness, and never letting go of one’s dreams.
—School Library Journal

The picture of family life is easygoing but evocative, with Spanish words in dialogue effectively woven into the English text, and the close comradeship between the glamorous young aunt and the narrator is one that many youngsters will envy... Anybody who's felt trapped at home in a hot summer will recognize the lure of freedom and the glee of an open-air drive.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This gentle story about the unbreakable bonds of family (and the joy of a sweet set of wheels) is as refreshing as a cool sea breeze on a summer day, and a lovely way to start a conversation with a youngster about their own family history.
—Virginian-Pilot

From the Publisher

Tía Isa dreams of buying a big car, green like the ocean that surrounds the island that she, her brother Andrés and their niece left to move to the United States.

Since most of their extra money goes to help the family still on the island, Tía Isa and her niece know it will take time. The car will not only get them to the beach but will also be large enough for the rest of the family, once they start moving to the States, too. As the unnamed first-person narrator, the niece starts telling people around the neighborhood about her aunt's dream and begins earning money by helping the produce man at his store, an elderly woman with her kittens and the librarian with her Spanish. Soon, they have enough saved. The car they choose is shiny green with plenty of room for the whole family. The two drive back to their apartment to celebrate the purchase with Tío Andrés. The last two pages show the young girl, now reunited with her parents, on the beach. Muñoz captures all of the action in watercolors accented with ink and pencil. Besides the pleasant story, the interwoven Spanish and references to "Helping Money" and families divided by immigration may make the book particularly appealing to immigrant Latino children.

A pleasant tale of determination. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews