La Isla

I really liked this story of a child and her storytelling grandmother. I love that this story is so descriptive and imaginative. There are many books where a character is telling a story and they imagine themselves going there. Although the child and her grandmother are not actually flying through the air visiting the tropical island hometown of the grandmother, the descriptions throughout her story are so clear and detailed that the child (and the reader) really feel as if they are there: “’Aire tropical,’ says Abeula, taking a deep breath. The hot, damp air smells salty.” The pictures of throughout the book do an amazing job of giving a visual representation of the text. They also set the mood of the story with their magical show more depictions, bright and festive colors, and warm tones. Finally, I really enjoyed the way that this author structured the story by incorporating Spanish words. Although I do not know any Spanish at all, I was able to follow along with Abeula’s tale because the text was written in such a way that I was able to infer what the Spanish words meant. It also helped that the author choose phrases that had similar roots and spelling in English to include in the story: “’Es magica,’ Abeula says. The fountain does seem magical.” This book did a great job of introducing some of the Spanish culture to me as a reader. show less

Isla was not only a wonderful story about a girl and her family, but also an informative story on the Spanish culture. One thing I really liked and found helpful in this book was the translations. It used basic Spanish words such as abuela, isla, magica,etc. After the Spanish Words were said, the girl indirectly explained what they meant. In the back of the book there was also a glossary with all the Spanish words that were used and their English meaning. This would be a great book for ELL's with Spanish being their native language or students who are learning to speak Spanish. The pictures were also very helpful and descriptive. The content of the book was very lovable. Rosalba is listening to a story told by her abuela (grandmother). show more As her abuela is telling the story, Rosabla imagines that they are flying to her abuleas island where the story takes place. On the island they do many fun things together, like go to the beach and see many different types of fish. They fly to the rain forest to see the trees that make an umbrella over all the birds, frogs and lizards that live there. I like that this book shows a little about the region that some Spanish speakers may live in. Students can infer that some places Spanish speakers live in are very warm and tropical. They can also infer that family is very valuable to everyone. show less

This story is about a young girl taking a trip with her grandmother through on of her grandmother’s stories. One thing I liked about this story was the detailed illustrations. The illustrator used very detailed flowers and colorful designs that filled the pages. The detailed pictures portray the grandmother’s homeland as a joyful, colorful area. For example, when “abuela” is hugging her family, the house is a beautiful yellow surrounded by so many flowers and trees filed with fruit.
The story also includes many Spanish words to introduce the Hispanic American heritage. The story does contain a good amount of Spanish words but the book contains a glossary in the back for readers to use as a resource when they did not know the show more meaning of a word. For example, the author includes sayings like “Nuestro circo” and looking in the glossary you can see that means our circus.
The big idea of this story is that it is important to know where you and your family come from. The author takes the reader through a journey of a young girl with her grandmothers and learns about the activities, food and the land marks (cities, ocean, forests). show less

When Rosalba and Abuela get together, adventure is in the air. Together they fly to la isla, the island where Abuela grew up, on the magic of Abuela's storytelling. The story celebrates the importance of family and of family place as naturally and unobtrusively as it incorporates the Spanish words and phrases of Abuela.

I absolutely loved the illustrations in this book. They were so vibrant. This author stressed the importance of family, and I really liked that.

This is a great story about a child and her family. It tells the story of a young Hispanic girl learning about her family through the stories her grandmother tells her. She learns about the island her grandmother is from, and she hopes to one day visit. This book is very informative about the Spanish culture, and it is a great story to encourage young students to learn a new language.

This is a great story about a child and her family. It tells the story of a young Hispanic girl learning about her family through the stories her grandmother tells her. She learns about her heritage through the stories told by her grandmother. I think this is a great book to use when introducing young children to different cultures and languages. The illustrations where so detailed and very colorful.