Brown, M. (2003). Me Llamo Celia/My Name Is Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz/The Life Of Celia Cruz. New York, NY. Rising Moon Books

(1 bk)

Grades: 2nd to 4th

Awards:
2005 Americas Book Award
2005 Puré Belpré Honor Book for Illustration

Summary: This is a bilingual book in Spanish and English. This book is a partial biography of Celia Cruz, also known as “Sugar”. She was born in Havana, Cuba , but left after Castro’s revolution began. She first moved to Mexico and then to the New York and finally Florida. Written in first person narrative form, this book tells of how Celia childhood was exciting. Her father wanted her to be a teacher but she wanted to be a singer. She traveled with her cousin to sing in competitions. She faced prejudice due to the color of her skin. However, after she fled Cuba she continued to sing in New York and Florida, where she became known as the Queen of Salsa.

Illustrator/Illustrations: This book was illustrated by Rafael Lopez. He used vivid acrylic paints to show the movement of the music throughout this book.

National Standards: Social Studies: Places and Regions, Music: Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

Access Features: There is an acknowledgement page where the author and illustrator dedicated this book to their children. There is a conclusion page that gives more information about Celia Cruz and a picture on the last page of her.

My response to the book: I really liked the colorful illustrations. I have never heard of Celia Cruz until now. She must have led a very interesting life.

How I would use this book in my classroom: I would use this book when studying music and contributions that people have made the music that we listen to. Also, this would be a great book to use when studying about other cultures and languages.

Related text: Me Llamo Gabriela/my Name Is Gabriela by Monica Brown, My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla by Amada Irma Perez, and In My Family/En mi familia by Carmen Lomas Garza