A Birthday Basket for Tia by Pat Mora and Cecily Lang

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mora, Pat, and Cecily Lang. A Birthday Basket For Tía. Simon & Schuster, 1992.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
A Birthday Basket for Tia is a story about a young girl and her way of showing love for her great aunt. The story tells about the girl, Cecilia, and her great aunt’s relationship through a variety of items that Cecilia puts into her tia’s 90^th birthday basket. Each item that is placed into the basket has some special significance for the two. Finially, after much anticipation from Cecilia, her Tia receives the gifts and they celebrate their love and her birthday happily.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Pat Mora does a great job creating a character that is very believable and relatable. The story is very easy to follow and the language is very engaging. The most significant this to comment about the language is the use of both Spanish and English in this picture book. This aspect lends a lot to the cultural element of the book.

I believe that while this story is a great one for students or classrooms have students that share this culture, the story is well written and so relatable that all students will enjoy and relate to Cecilia and her perfect gift search.

Cecily Lang uses very vibrant colors that pair perfectly with the cultural element of the story. I also liked her use of specking the paint in the background because it added a very festive touch.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
"Vibrant, detailed cut-paper illustrations portray family warmth and individuality with verve and panache". -- School Library Journal

"Exemplifies the best of recent multicultural publishing". -- The Horn Book

5. CONNECTIONS
This picture book would be a great addition to any elementary classroom library, regardless of the cultures represented in the classroom.