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We’ve just had a seventh birthday celebration in our household. Little Brother was lucky: it was the week-end and he spent the whole day with his family. Not so poor little Graciela in Papi’s Gift (written by Karen Stanton and illustrated by Rene King Moreno) whose father is working in the United States to support his family back home. We don’t know the exact location but the gentle illustrations in soft pastels place the book in a Latino setting with many visual cultural references.

Graciela can’t have her father at home for her seventh birthday but she can at least have the parcel he sends to her… or so she thinks. But she waits and waits and the parcel never arrives. Papi cries at the other end of the phone – a very daring notion to include in a picture book, which really brings home the stress of separation for all involved. Graciela goes through many emotions – expectation turns to upset and then anger but, with her mother’s help, she emerges from the experience not unscathed but with hope in her heart.

In the same way that we feel Graciela will grow from the experience, young readers/ listeners (and this really is a book for sharing at a first reading), will find the story sobering and thought-provoking. They will empathise with the universality of her responses to what she has no control over; and they will question and learn about the reality of what life is like for some families, where separation is the only answer in order for them to survive.

There’s a great review of Papi’s Gift over at BookBuds and Picture Book of the Day recommends it as a springboard for a classroom writing activity.

In this show A multimedia text set focusing on gender issues and definitions of success. Texts Mentioned: Shrek The Pink Party Boy Can He Dance Thanks To: Diana Rodriguez for the multi-media audio Chris Kretz from the Dowling College Library Omnibus Podcast