Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the difficulties Isabel faces when she moves to the USA from Mexico. Share your experiences of moving to a different place.

Discuss where you feel safe and with whom.

Create a collection of favourite words from the class. Explain why each is a favourite—does it remind you of something special, or do you like the ‘look’ of the word or the ‘feel’ of the word as you say it?

Write a reply from Auntie Lupita following Isabel’s letter about her party.

Discuss the difficulties Isabel faces when she moves to the USA from Mexico. Share your experiences of moving to a different place.

Discuss learning a second language. Is it easier if everybody learns together, or would you prefer to be a new student learning a language on your own?

Compare how birthdays are celebrated in Isabel’s family, in her new town and in your family. Use a graphic organizer to show your response.

Create a collection of favourite words from the class. Write why each is a favourite.

The Gardener, Mama, I'll Give You the World, Me and Mr. Mah, One Hockey Night, Yuck, a Love Story, Augustine

Mots-clés

Picture book , aunts , homesick , immigration , languages , letters , moving (household) , Spanish

Commentaire descriptif

Young Isabel writes letters to her Auntie Lupita in Mexico to practise her English, since she and her family are moving to the United States. The letters share happy anecdotes of crossing the border, eating in a diner and her first experience of snow. But Isabel experiences stresses too; a refrigerator box provides a soothing hideaway, until it gets ruined in the rain. “I loved how safe I felt in that box! Mother is letting me write this letter under the kitchen table. It isn't the same.” The illustrations depict fashions and furnishings of the 1950s, as well as Mother’s traditional dishware and tablecloth on which she starts a business, cooking for birthday parties. As she helps her mother, Isabel begins to make friends. Children may be surprised by Isabel’s gift request for her own birthday party: she wants everyone to bring their favourite word. Isabel’s word-gifts are a delight: “sunrise, nightingale, twilight and lullaby, but the one I like to say out loud is sycamore.” Children will love poring over the detailed pull-out illustration of the ingenious and colourful quiet place—reminiscent of a Mexican village—that Isabel creates with boxes.