Let's Go See Papá!

by Lawrence Schimel, Alba Rivera (Illustrator), Elisa Amado (Translator)

Overview

The little girl in this story likes Sundays best of all — it’s the day her father calls. She hasn’t seen him for over a year because he works far away across the ocean in the United States. She writes in her notebook every day, keeping a record of everything that happens to share with him when she finally sees him again. Then one Sunday her father asks if she and her mother would like to join him, and she’s surprised by her mixed feelings. It means leaving her grandmother, her friends … and her dog, Kika, behind.

This is a powerful story from a young child’s perspective about what it’s like to have an absent parent and to have to leave your home, country and those you love for a new life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773067919
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Lawrence Schimel is a poet, novelist, translator and essay writer. He lives in Madrid, Spain.

Alba Marina Rivera is an award-winning illustrator who lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Visit Alba Marina Rivera's website:
http://albamarinarivera.com/

ELISA AMADO is a Guatemalan-born author and translator. She has written My Friend (Mi amiga), illustrated by Alfonso Ruano; Un Barrilete para el Día de los Muertos / Barrilete: A Kite for the Day of the Dead; Cousins (Primas), illustrated by Luis Garay; and Tricycle (El triciclo), illustrated by Alfonso Ruano, which is on the Américas Award Commended List and is a USBBY Outstanding International Book. She lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

...completely original...

The Horn Book Magazine

...honest and compelling text...Highly Recommended.

CM Magazine - Katie Edwards

The story provides parents and teachers a different context for talking with young learners about paid jobs, the labor that goes into caring for family members, and the costs of giving up time with family in order to spend time working away from home.

Rutgers - Professor Yanna Van Der Meulen Rodgers

Most youngsters will understand the daunting prospect of a big move . . . and listeners may find the girl's emotional growth both familiar and reassuring.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

• "…readers…will admire the heroine’s stoicism and faith in the importance of having her family whole again." — Publisher's Weekly

• "The feelings of missing a loved one are realistically conveyed and will resonate with children." — School Library Journal

• "Readers will enjoy deciphering the various visual elements…its themes are relevant to all children." — Kirkus

From the Publisher

Gr 1–3—A young girl waits by the telephone every Sunday for a call from Papá;. He left "one year, eight months and twenty two days" ago to find work in the United States. He is always in her thoughts and she writes to him in a notebook every day. When Papá; asks her and Mamá; to join him, she is thrilled to be reunited, but also sad to leave her abuela and friends. Rivera's pencil, crayon, and watercolor illustrations capture the daily details of a loving extended family. Photographs, postcards, and drawings are pinned to the girl's bedroom walls and a calendar shows the days crossed off and big red circles around Sundays. The feelings of missing a loved one are realistically conveyed and will resonate with children.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

A young girl realizes that moving to the United States to live with her father means leaving familiarity behind. "I haven't seen my papá for one year, eight months and twenty-two days." Her father moved away to earn money to send back to his family. Since Sundays are the cheapest day for long-distance phone calls, that day is special to the girl, her mamá and her abuela. The three live together in an unnamed, presumably Latin American country. She keeps a notebook of all the things Papá is missing and reminisces about the times they spent walking their dog Kika. One Sunday, Papá tells his daughter that she and Mamá will finally be able to come live with him in the United States. While she is happy at the prospect of living with her father again, she is also has trepidations about leaving Abuela, Kika and her best friend Rocío behind. Schimel takes readers into the mind of the unnamed girl through his skillful use of the first-person narration, while Rivera's mixed-media illustrations combine traditional materials with photocopies and transfers to give some pages a scrapbooklike appeal. Readers will enjoy deciphering the various visual elements. While this is clearly a much-needed story that effectively captures the experience faced by many immigrant families, its themes are relevant to all children. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews