Summary
Tomas and the library lady is a story about discovery. Tomas' parents are farm workers and have left Texas for Iowa to help the farmers there pick fruits and vegetables. While in Iowa, his Papa Grande suggests he check out the local library so he can learn some stories and become a great storyteller like his Papa Grande. At the library he meets the library lady who gives him several books to read and inspires him to follow a life long journey of reading.
Bibliographic Citation
Mora, P. (1997). Tomas and the library lady. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Impressions
This story is noteworthy because it is based on actual events. Tomas Rivera was inspired by an Iowa librarian to read and as a result became a national education leader. It highlights the positive role librarians play in children's lives. The illustrations work really well in this story to deliver that message.
Reviews
Gr 2-4--Tomas Rivera, who at his death in 1984 was the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, grew up in a migrant family. Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest. She introduces him to stories about dinosaurs, horses, and American Indians and allows him to take books home where he shares them with his parents, grandfather, and brother. When it is time for the family to return to Texas, she gives Tomas the greatest gift of all--a book of his own to keep. Colon's earthy, sun-warmed colors, textured with swirling lines, add life to this biographical fragment and help portray Tomas's reading adventures in appealing ways. Stack this up with Sarah Stewart and David Small's The Library (Farrar, 1995) and Suzanne Williams and Steven Kellogg's Library Lil (Dial, 1997) to demonstrate the impact librarians can have on youngsters.--Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Reviewed October 1, 1997-School Library Journal
From the immigrant slums of New York City to the fields of California, it’s an elemental American experience: the uprooted child who finds a home in the library. Mora’s story is based on a true incident in the life of the famous writer Tomas Rivera, the son of migrant workers who became an education leader and university president. Far from his home in Texas, the small boy is working with his family picking corn in Iowa. Inspired by the Spanish stories his grandfather (Papa Grande tells, Tomas goes to the library to find more stories. The librarian welcomes him into the cool, quiet reading room and gives him books in English that he reads to himself and to his family. He teaches her some Spanish words. Then, as in so many migrant stories, the boy must leave the home he has found. He has a new, sad word for her, “adios It means goodbye.” Colon’s beautiful scratchboard illustrations, in his textured, glowingly colored, rhythmic style, capture the warmth and the dreams that the boy finds in the world of books. The pictures are upbeat; little stress is shown; even in the fields, the kids could be playing kick ball or listening to stories. Perhaps the most moving picture is that of the child outside the library door, his face pressed against the pane. In contrast is the peaceful space he finds inside, where he is free to imagine dinosaurs and wild adventure. (Reviewed Aug. 1997)— Hazel Rochman- Booklist
Library Settings
This book could be used in a storytime program to teach children about the value of reading and how it can inspire people to do great things. It could also be placed in a display highlighting Hispanic Heritage Month.
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