GRANDMA’S RECORDS

GRANDMA’S RECORDS

Written and Illustrated by :Eric Velasquez
Paperback| Pages: 32
Size:10x10| USD:$8.99
ISBN:978-0802776600
Publication Date: March 1, 2004
Age: 3-6| Guided Reading Level: J
Recommendations: K, PW, SLJ

About the Book

Coretta Scott King and John Steptoe New Talent Award winner Eric Velasquez shines in the perfect picture book to read with grandparents.

Every summer, Eric goes to live with his grandmother in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) while his parents work. Through the long hot days, Grandma fills her apartment with the blaring horns and conga drums of Bomba y Plena, salsa, and merengue-the music she grew up with in Puerto Rico-sharing her memories and passions with Eric.

But Eric sees Grandma in a new light when she gets them tickets to hear their favorite band in concert. The music sounds so different than it does at home on their scratchy records. And then the lead singer serenades Grandma right in front of the whole audience!

Join Eric Velasquez on a magical journey through time and across cultures, as a young boy's passion for music and art is forged by a powerful bond between generations.

★★★THE REVIEWS ARE IN!★★★

From School Library Journal

Gr 1–3—Each year, a boy spends the summer with his grandmother in her apartment in Spanish Harlem listening to her records. Grandma is given two tickets to a live concert by a nephew, a percussionist in a well-known Puerto Rican band. When the lead singer dedicates the last song to her, the child is surprised to see everyone singing "Grandma's special song" ("In My Old San Juan") with eyes closed and a hand placed over the heart. Velasquez was one of the first children's book creators to celebrate and bring light to the Afro-Latinx experience. The companion, Grandma's Gift, won the 2011 Pura Belpré Award.

Review

“Velasquez proves himself adept at evoking time and place as well as a loving family bond. The narrator spends his boyhood summers at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem, where Grandma introduces him to the sounds of merengue and conga, dances with him and tells stories of growing up in Puerto Rico.” ―Publishers Weekly.

“This heartfelt story has a melody all its own.” ―Kirkus Reviews