Pura Belpré Honor writer Laekan Zea Kemp (Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet) provides a candy ode to the particular bond between grandmother and grandchild in A Crown for Corina, her first image e-book.
Corina is celebrating her birthday in Abuela’s backyard, the place her grandmother helps her choose significant blooms to include into her flower corona, her very personal crown. Abuela’s backyard is the proper place for a celebration, so full of flowers that Corina thinks it appears like “la tierra is throwing una fiesta.”
At Abuela’s urging, Corina begins by selecting flowers that signify her household. There’s a cheerful sunflower for Mamá, who loves the colour yellow, a bluebonnet that reminds Corina of her pet rabbit’s fluffy tail, morning glories that pay tribute to Abuelo’s trumpet and extra. Next, Abuela asks Corina so as to add flowers that symbolize who she needs to develop as much as turn out to be, and Corina picks sunny esperanzas for hope, daisies for energy and mistflowers for their candy scent that attracts butterflies. As Corina explores Abuela’s backyard, she discovers a language she by no means knew earlier than, “one spoken not in words but in the prick of a cactus needle, in the bright orange plums of a bird of paradise, and in the sweet scent of a chocolate cosmos.”
Finally, Abuela locations the corona on Corina’s head and reminds her granddaughter that to put on a flower crown is to “become its roots, reaching back through time to hold on to the things that matter.” Corina realizes that she is going to carry the reminiscence of this present day spent along with her Abuela without end.
Kemp incorporates Spanish phrases and phrases all through the textual content as she welcomes readers into Corina’s household’s tales. Kemp’s use of sensory imagery is very properly accomplished, enabling the reader to expertise not solely the best way Abuela’s backyard appears but additionally the way it smells, sounds and feels. Kemp’s lyrical prose blends seamlessly with Elise Chavarri’s cheerful, detailed watercolor paintings to create a vigorous Eden bursting with hummingbirds, honey bees, blossoms and butterflies. Her spreads are full of vivid greens and heat, saturated magentas and oranges that replicate Corina’s personal emotions of lightness and pleasure.
Just like Abuela’s backyard grows with care, Corina feels supported and cherished by her household as she grows one other 12 months older. A Crown for Corina is a transferring portrayal of the connections between relations, generations, the earth, the previous and a really brilliant future.
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