Mola: Cuna Life Stories and Art explains the history, values, and everyday lives of the Cuna people. Originally from Panama, they now live on islands just off the coast. Their traditions are reinforced through their art, fabric panels sewn by the women. The Cuna people are semi-independent from Panama, with a distinct cultural heritage that includes an honored place for women.

Mola is told in simple yet poetical language. Descriptions of the landscape, flora, fauna, and Cuna people provide a detailed and well balanced picture of the life and environment in the San Blas Islands. The book is written for Western children and caters to that perspective, yet manages to explain another culture in a non-diminutive way. The Cuna people are not exoticized or portrayed as primitive.

Mola's illustrations are exclusively photographs of Mola panels. The panels are chosen in a way that perfectly illustrates the text (or perhaps the text is written in a way that perfectly illustrates the panels). As the book unfolds, the reader not only learns about the Cuna people, but also learns how to read Cuna art. In effect, the story has been co-written by Cuna women. ( )