Additional information
by Monica Brown (Author), David Diaz (Illustrator)
Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education
Junior Library Guild Selection
Américas Book Award, Commended Title, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs
100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library
Notable Books for a Global Society, International Literacy Association (ILA)
Charlotte Zolotow Award - Highly Commended Title, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Monarch Award Master List, Illinois School Library Media Association
Top Latino Titles of the Year, School Library Journal
Bilingual English/Spanish. Based on a Yiddish folk song, a young girl's cherished baby blanket becomes old and worn over time and she finds new ways to use it as she grows up.
Little Maya has a special blanket that Grandma stitched with her own two hands. As Maya grows, her blanket becomes worn and frayed, so with Grandma's help, Maya makes it into a dress. Over time the dress is made into a skirt, a shawl, a scarf, a hair ribbon, and finally, a bookmark. Each item has special, magical, meaning for Maya; it animates her adventures, protects her, or helps her in some way. But when Maya loses her bookmark, she preserves her memories by creating a book about her adventures and love of these items. When Maya grows up, she shares her book--Maya's Blanket/La manta de Maya--with her own little daughter while snuggled under her own special blanket.
Inspired by the traditional Yiddish folk song "Hob Ikh Mir a Mantl" ("I Had a Little Coat"), this delightful bilingual picture book puts a child-focused, Latino spin on the tale of an item that is made into smaller and smaller items. Maya's Blanket/La manta de Maya charmingly brings to life this celebration creativity, recycling, and enduring family love.
Author Biography
Monica Brown is the award-winning author of over thirty books for children, including Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/no combina, Sharuko, Maya's Blanket/la manta de Maya, Waiting for the Biblioburro, Frida and Her Animalitos, and El Cuarto Turquesa/The Turquoise Room, as well as the Lola Levine chapter book series, among many others. She is the recipient of the Christopher Award, two Américas Awards, and multiple starred reviews. Her work has been translated into a dozen languages, and has appeared in the NYTimes, The Washington Post, and on NPR's All Things Considered. When not writing for children, Brown serves as a professor of English at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches about US Latino and multicultural literature. Brown lives with her family in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her website is monicabrown.net.
David Diaz won the Caldecott Medal in 1995 for Smoky Night. He is the illustrator of many other popular children's books as well, including December, Roadrunner's Dance, Going Home, and Wilma Unlimited. Diaz is also an accomplished potter, and he has sold his work to collectors throughout the country. He lives in Carlsbad, California.
