Mi Casa Is My Home

by Laurenne Sala, Zara González Hoang (Illustrator)

Overview

Lucia invites you to visit her bustling casa and meet an intergenerational array of loved ones in a charming Spanglish celebration of family life.

Este es el baño . . . It’s where I shave my barba con Abuelo.

Bienvenidos to Lucía’s home. Lucía lives in her casa with her big, loud, beautiful familia, and she’s going to show you around! From la puerta, where Abuela likes to wave to the neighbors and wait for packages from Puerto Rico or Spain, to la cocina, where Lucía watches her Mamá turn empty pots into soups and arroces, to el patio, where Lucia and her cousins (and her cousin’s cousins!) put on magic shows, Lucía loves her busy and cozy casa. With warmth and joy, author Laurenne Sala and illustrator Zara González Hoang celebrate home in this bilingual picture book that feels like an abrazo from your most favorite people, your familia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536209433
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	08/19/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	409,415
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Laurenne Sala is a children’s books author, storyteller, and poet. Her picture books include You Made Me a Mother, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, and You Made Me a Dad, illustrated by Mike Malbrough. Laurenne Sala lives with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles.

Zara González Hoang is a children’s author and illustrator. She’s the creator of the picture book A New Kind of Wild and also illustrated the picture book Thread of Love by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal. About Mi Casa Is My Home, she says, “Drawing Lucía's casa was like drawing my childhood—full of family, fiestas, and food!” Zara González Hoang lives with her family outside of Washington, DC.

Editorial Reviews

08/30/2021

A light brown–skinned child named Lucía introduces their casa—and their “big, loud, beautiful familia,” which has roots in Puerto Rico and España—in this picture book by Sala. As Lucía treats the audience to a tour of the family’s casa in a seamless blend of English and Spanish (“Esta es la cocina... It’s where I watch Mamá perform milagros”), González Hoang offers context clues for non-Spanish-speaking readers in soft watercolor, colored pencil, and digital spreads, showcasing the family and community’s range of skin tones along the way. The immersive Spanish may present a learning curve for some (“cumples,” “ropa vieja,” and “Sana sana colita de rana!” for example, are nowhere near cognados to their English translations), but familiar elements—“Abuela puts smelly stuff on my chest when I’m sick”—ensure that readers of this bilingual picture book will find much to appreciate. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A must-buy. This book is perfect not only for bilingual readers but also for those seeking to connect more with another language.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

This sweet family story will be best enjoyed by readers who speak both Spanish and English, as Lucía uses Spanglish, seamlessly moving back and forth between the two languages. The accompanying illustrations have a charming childlike feel that complements Lucía’s cheer and provides visual context for readers who don’t speak Spanish. Lucía’s family members represents the Latinx community’s racial diversity. A warm family account that will ring true with many Latinx children.
—Kirkus Reviews

Lucía lives in a yellow house with her large and loving family, and in Sala and Hoang's warm picture book, readers are invited to walk through her cozy home. . . . Sala and Hoang have created a book that celebrates home, family, and togetherness that will leave readers feeling right at home with Lucía.
—Booklist

A celebration of home and family.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Laurenne’s sweet story, written in the perfect mix of Spanish and English is paired with Zara’s bright colors and warm details like lively plants and jars of habichuelas, which make the story and the characters feel relatable and fun.
—Las Musas

From the Publisher

★ 08/13/2021

Gr 2–4—Lucia is a friendly young girl with a large family and a beautiful yellow house. In this book, she takes readers on a tour of each room in her home, su casa, explaining what happens there with her friends, family, and pets. In la cocina, her mother cooks yummy soups. In la sala, Lucia builds couch forts with her cousins, sus primos. The book itself is a friendly square shape, and Lucia is a happy narrator and guide in her bright blue rainbow shirt. Hoang's watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are cheerful and vibrant. On almost every page, characters of a variety of skin tones and dress smile, play, and dance. The Spanish words are naturally incorporated into the text, without italics or parenthetical translations; those unfamiliar with the vocabulary can use context clues from both the text and art to decode meaning. Sala's choice not to provide a glossary or translations helps show readers that Spanish isn't a separate language but one that fits perfectly alongside English in Lucia's home—and in other homes, too. VERDICT A must-buy. This book is perfect not only for bilingual readers but also for those seeking to connect more with another language.—Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill P.L., MA

School Library Journal

2021-07-14
Little Lucía takes readers on a tour of the house where she lives with her “big, loud, beautiful familia.”

As Lucía moves from space to space, readers meet the many family members that live in or visit the house and all the activities and interactions they have. She enters through la puerta, from which Abuela waves at the neighbors, to la sala, where she makes forts out of sofa cushions with her cousins and the cousins of her cousins. From there, readers travel through la cocina, where on special holidays Abuelo cooks his masterpiece turkey “a la española,” and back outside to el patio, where “I turn the music muy muy alta para bailar y bailar y bailar.” In el baño, “Abuela says, “Sana sana colita de rana!” as she tends to Lucía’s scraped knee. Then there’s el cuarto de mis hermanos, where she sometimes sneaks in “when I need un abrazo extra” from her brothers. She ends the tour at “mi habitación,” which has a bright sign on the door: LUCÍA’S ROOM! This sweet family story will be best enjoyed by readers who speak both Spanish and English, as Lucía uses Spanglish, seamlessly moving back and forth between the two languages. The accompanying illustrations have a charming childlike feel that complements Lucía’s cheer and provides visual context for readers who don’t speak Spanish. Lucía’s family members represents the Latinx community’s racial diversity.

A warm family account that will ring true with many Latinx children. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews