Lupe Vargas and Her Super Best Friend |
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★ Junior Library Guild Premier Selection 2007 |
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Author: Amy Costales
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My first book is about me, my childhood super best friend, our adventures together, the day I forgot to share…and an apology. |
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Lupe and her best friend play make believe and have a spat and make up. ...especially appealing to young girls and adults looking for narratives in which girls are strong characters with intelligence and spunk. --Foreword Magazine
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Abuelita Full of Life |
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★ Book of Américas Commended Title 2008 |
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Author: Amy Costales
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I was always moved by my mother-in-law's energy and her love for her grandchildren on both sides of the border. One day I was playing with my son and planning a picture book about a grandma when I saw my nephew riding up on his bike. My mother-in-law was running along behind, laughing. In that moment I knew I was going to write about an Abuela who is full of life. |
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A bilingual English/Spanish picture book about José, a young boy who must adjust to the arrival of his grandmother from Mexico. José has to change his ways by making more space for her, speaking Spanish to her, and listening to her music at times. But he discovers that he doesn't mind the changes at all, for his Abuelita is astoundingly full of life! There is never a dull moment as she shows him things he never stopped to look closely at before. A heartwarming story about bonding with family, highly recommended. --Midwest Book Review
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Hello Night |
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★ International Latino Book Awards Best Bilingual Picture Book 2008 |
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Author: Amy Costales
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My son was just a few weeks old when I started taking evening walks with him. As he grew older, he began to greet everything he saw in a beautiful mix of English and Spanish. I wrote this book for him. |
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It is time to go to bed. But first, it is time to take a walk, greet the night, and enjoy all the beauty of twilight just as the moon comes out. I was not sure which was more beautiful, the illustrations that managed to be bright and colorful while still soft and calming, or the lovely text, which pulled off the amazing feat of rhyming in two different languages while keeping the same meaning. --Beautiful Books
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Sundays on Fourth Street |
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Author: Amy Costales
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Fourth Street in Santa Ana (SanTana). It was where we went for piñatas, haircuts, mangos, tacos, earrings, Gansitos, pan dulce, weddings, paletas, cowboy boots, CDs and just to have fun. I spent hours on this street as a teen and young woman, as did my daughter as a child. When my daughter's cousins, Pepe and Edgar, moved back to Mexico, I wrote this book in celebration of a special street and a thing money can't buy—love. |
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Based on real-life visits to Fourth Street in Santa Ana, California, author Amy Costales has written a story that pays homage to a special street and—more importantly—time spent with loved ones. Paired with Elaine Jerome's colorful illustrations that depict lively street scenes, readers of all ages will enjoy Sundays on Fourth Street. --Latinoteca Where to purchase:
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Grandpa Used to Live Alone |
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★ Recommended by Teaching Tolerance |
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Author: Amy Costales
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When my daughter was little, my father took care of her at night so that I could go to college. He slept on the floor or in a rocking chair by her crib until she fell asleep. The years passed. My daughter grew up and my father grew older. One day I saw my daughter sitting in a rocking chair looking at her grandfather while he slept. I wrote this book in homage to my father and the role he played in the life of my daughter, who grew up without a father but with a dedicated grandfather. |
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Amy Costales's heart-warming text, accompanied by Esperanza Gama's soothing illustrations, lovingly depicts the relationship between a child and a central figure in her life -- her grandfather.--Goodreads Where to purchase:
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