Multicultural Book Review: The Tortilla Quilt

Title: The Tortilla Quilt
Author: Jane Tenorio- Coscarelli
Publisher: Quarter Inch Designs & Publishing
Copyright date: January 1, 1996
Number of Pages: 47 pages
Awards: N/A
Reading Level: Reader Sr. "I am doing it all by myself"
Generally appropriate for 2nd Grade to 4th Grade
Books at this level are appropriate for the now confident reader who can handle more text on the page and more in depth character development.
Lexile: N/A
Genre: Children’s Literature, Multicultural

Summary:
This book is about a young Hispanic girl, Maria, who lives with her grandmother, Lupita, on a ranch in southern California. Grandma Lupita works as a cook for the Olson family, which includes a little girl named Sarah. Maria and Sarah become great friends. One night Maria watched Sarah and her mother stitch a quilt together. Maria wanted to make one herself, but she knew that the material would be too expensive for her grandmother to buy. Her Grandma came up with an idea of using the flour meal sacks from her tortillas for the quilt squares. Does this idea work for Maria to stitch a quilt together? Who helped Maria create and finish her quilt?

Academic Purpose:
This book is fantastic, and a great book to integrate into the classroom for multicultural purposes. It is important to integrate multicultural books, and not just during African American month, Native America week, or Hispanic month. Multicultural books should be used all the time for different occasions and lessons. How I would use this book in the classroom is first read it aloud to my students. I would ask them questions about their families, special traditions their families and them do together, and if students can share stories from their families’ past. I would start a word wall for this book, because it has Spanish vocabulary in it to teach some basic Spanish words. I would also have students take home a family tree chart to their family to fill out and return, so we can talk about where their family came from and what their cultures are (With this project, the teacher has to be aware of certain students that may live in foster care or a group home. The teacher may have to implement a different activity.).

The next project would be for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or any family members to tell a story or memory to their child, from their childhood. The goal would be for the child to retell the story with fluency at school in front of their peers. This project would help the students with the skills of fluency, comprehension, retelling, and also reaching the speaking and listening standards. The students would retell a family story at school, and bring a prop that goes along with their story, that can fit in the provided brown paper bag. I have seen this project in action with students, and they do such a fantastic job!

Rating System:

Categories:	5 Stars	3 Stars	1 Star	Comments
Style and Language	The book anticipates readers’ questions and uses great word choice for the age targeted. It has linear progression and communicates its point clearly.	The book follows a linear progression, with some unclear points. The word choice is okay.	The book is confusing as it doesn’t follow a linear progression at all. The vocabulary in the book is either too simple or too complex for the age group targeted.	This book uses great word choice for the age targeted. There are many Spanish vocabulary words such as, corazon, cumpleanos, abuela, and familia. The books style and language creates a great book for independent readers. This book communicates its point clearly about the Hispanic culture. The linear progression storyline is fantastic. 5 stars
Plot and Character Development	The plot is in depth and helps to create a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. The character development is strong.	The plot is okay. The book is organized with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are well developed.	The book is confusing and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, or end.	This book does have a plot, which creates a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. This book does a great job of unfolding the characteristics of the character, Maria. It shows how patient she was to create something she always wanted to do, and how thankful she was to all those who helped her create her quilt. 5 stars
Interest	The book holds real life situations, which draw the reader in. The word choice and story hold the reader’s attention. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book holds little interest and draws the reader in sometimes. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book is very boring and doesn’t hold the reader’s attention. The book is not suitable for the age group targeted.	This book would hold a reader’s attention. This book provides Spanish vocabulary words, which children would love to learn. Children love to learn words from a different language it really does fascinate them. This books talks about teamwork and family, which is always a fun topic for students to have a discussion about. 5 stars
Educational Value	The book is relatable to education. The book can be integrated into other content areas.	The book is relatable to education. The book may need further resources to help connect it to other content areas.	The book is not relatable to education whatsoever. The book is not appropriate to be integrated into other content areas.	This book is relatable to education. This book teaches students about the Hispanic culture, Spanish words, family, and friendship. This book would be a great multicultural book to integrate into any content area or lesson. 5 star