Jessica Betancourt-Perez

Primary
Isabella moved to America from Colombia and really wants to make new friends - will a snow day foil her plans?
I surprisingly liked this book. It was refreshingly low on text, which I feel like books these days with "important" topics tend to be very text heavy when they don't need to be. This book could actually be read by children. I like that the Spanish in the book isn't necessarily translated for you; maybe if I was reading it aloud I could define the words for the kids. Having Spanish in the book is also cool for Spanish speaking students to hear their language. This book can strike a conversation of how all kinds of kids can play and get along, and how good it feels when you make a new friend.… (mehr)

Isabella has recently moved to the United States from Colombia and feels quite lonely. She is looking forward to her first day of school, where she hopes to make new friends, but is disappointed when there is a snow cancellation. However, she meets a neighbor, Katie, and the two decide to play in the snow together.

This is a very sweet story about making a friend, despite cultural and language differences, which is something young children are generally quite good at doing, so this might be a recognizable theme to them. The text is primarily in English, with some scattered words and phrases in Spanish. A glossary at the back defines those as well as provides a quick note about immigration's long history in America.

The illustrations have a relatively gentle color palette and an interesting style that fits the story well.… (mehr)