A Crown for Corina

by Laekan Zea Kemp, Elisa Chavarri (Illustrator)

From two Pura Belpré award-winning creators comes the charming story of a girl who learns about a beloved family tradition and the symbolism behind the Mexican flower crown.

Today is Corina’s birthday, and she’s excited to wear the biggest crown with the most beautiful flowers picked from her abuela’s garden.

Each flower tells a special story about all the ways Corina is rooted in the family she loves.

With elegant and eye-catching illustrations from award-winning artist Elisa Chavarri, this charming story shares a beloved family tradition through one girl’s journey of self-discovery as she learns about the symbolism behind the Mexican flower crown.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Latinx, Gardening, Nature, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published February 7, 2023

About the author

Laekan Zea Kemp is a writer living in Austin, Texas. Her debut novel, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet was a 2022 Pura Belpré Honor Recipient. She has three objectives when it comes to storytelling: to make people laugh, cry, and crave Mexican food. Her work celebrates Chicane grit, resilience, creativity, and joy while exploring themes of identity and mental health.

Find her on social media @LaekanZeaKemp
http://www.laekanzeakemp.com/

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful, colorful picture book!

A Crown for Corina is a beautiful, fat positive story about Corina and her abulea as they pick flowers for her birthday crown. It's a sweet story filled with tradition, love, and family. I loved that readers get to learn the meaning of each flower and how they are connected to Corina. The vibrant colors and beautifully, detailed pictures help move the story in a fun and engaging way. I love picture books that encourage readers to do self-reflection and to engage in self-love. In the past few years, self-love has come to the forefront in a lot of different spaces, but it's always nice to see that representation in books that are targeted at a younger audience. This is definitely one that you should have in your library collection.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y'all this book is a fat positive dream! I had the privilege of reading an ARC and I think this is going to be my favorite picture book of 2023
A Crown for Corina is a beautiful and sweet story about a girl connecting with her abuela while she makes a flower crown that honors her culture and family. Corina is adorably illustrated with her cute double chin and the illustrations are stunning!! This book is full of so much joy and love and I highly recommend it. A must for every library and classroom.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This brightly colored picture book left me wanting to wear a crown with flowers from my Grandma's garden. Like Corina, my Abuela lived next door and family was important.
If you're looking for a picture book about flowers, springtime or family traditions to share with your children or students, give this a try. What flowers will they recognize, which ones will be new to them?

[Read_MsAlcaraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corina is creating a Mexican Corona of flowers for her birthday, a tradition that has been passed down from her abuela to her mom, and now it’s her turn. The journey through her abuela’s vast and beautiful garden is both whimsical and reflective. The magic and beauty of flowers as Corina and her abuela explore the garden, and the meaning of each flower and how it represents life in all of its stages. Laekan Zea Kemp writes a beautiful story of family bonds, the value of self love, and the importance of embracing where we’ve been in our lives and the lessons we learn that guide us to where we are going. Elisa Chavarri does a beautiful job of creating a vibrant and glowing garden filled with flowers of all colors and flowing greenery that embody the life that was built in abuela’s garden and home. Beautiful story and I cannot wait to share this with my nieces and students in my library!

[Alexandra Alessandri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laekan Zea Kemp's debut picture book is absolutely beautiful. The sweet, lyrical text follows Corina in her Abuela's garden, searching for the perfect flowers for her corona and learning about this beautiful tradition. But it's more than just picking the perfect flowers; it's a story of connectedness, of family. Elisa Chavarri's vivid and colorful illustrations brings Corina's story to life, and one can't help but want to remain in this story. This is a must for home, school, and public libraries!

[Jennifer Eckert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful picture book tells how Corina learns to pick flowers for her birthday corona (crown). She chooses flowers that remind her of the people and things she loves. The illustrations are vibrant with color and motion. This would make a great read aloud to connect with units about family, community, and traditions.

[Dora · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Makayla’s first picturebook

[Nicole Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beautiful poetic language; the messages of honoring your family, your past, your future; the gorgeous, colorful illustrations—these three elements add up to make a lovely, hopeful book that kids everywhere will fall in love with. It's Corina's birthday, and her grandma teaches her the meaning behind the tradition of preparing a flower crown. But when the petals start wilting at the end of the day, Corina learns the real lesson about love and its everlasting permanence.

A perfect birthday present for any child, this book will send the receiver bounding into the garden and then racing to find a loved one to hug!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corina loves to spend time with her Abuela (Grandmother). She can't wait to make her first Crown with her.
Her Abuela explains that each flower must have a significance to her and asks her to make her decisions based on that.

Which flowers will Corina pick and what is her crown's story?

A beautiful story rich with history, love, family and vibrant illustrations by Pura Belpre Award-winning illustrator, Elisa Chavarri, and told by Pura Belpre honored-author, Laekan Zea Kemp, reminds us to let our love grow and show it off.

What flowers would you put in your crown?

A Perfect read for Spring or Summertime, Storytime or even a great drift-off bedtime story;

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibrant, suited to a flower-, garden-, or birthday-themed storytime. Though I don't do crafts/have art time in general storytimes, this would be perfect for a special storytime or preschool project making flowery crowns, where each flower children choose represents something to them and they can share the story of their crown with others.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, bursting with vivid colors. This book details a rich and meaningful tradition that happens each year on one’s birthday. I loved learning about the significance of the tradition and Corina’s corona.
Great book to share with the whole family!

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful and beautiful book that shares a little girl’s family tradition of wearing a crown of flowers - each flower is specifically chosen to represent the person’s story - "who you are and where you come from" as well as "who you want to be."

Corina, the main character, picks flowers that remind her of each family member and flowers that speak to her personally for her birthday crown.

[Emily Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my mock Caldecott book, I read A Crown for Corina written by Laekan Zea Kemp and illustrated by Elisa Chavarri. The story is about a young girl named Corina on her birthday. She tells the story of how on her birthday, she wears a crown and the crown signifies your roots, which are your family. The flowers in her crown are grown in her Abuela's garden, who is a very important character in the story. This sweet, empowering book of self-discovery would be great for K-2nd grade. I would love to use it in a lesson when talking about who we are and discovering our roots. It would be interesting to pair it with a family tree to actually see your roots! It could also be used when discussing different languages/heritage, since there is some spanish in the book as well. Finally, the most important part of my potential Caldecott book, is the illustrations! The colors were very bright and really attractive to the eye. Each page has a variety of detail, from the flowers, to the people, to the sky. The same color scheme flows throughout. I especially loved the hard pages between the cover and the first page of the book; it was a collage of all kinds of flowers. There are pages of Corina in her Abuela's flower garden that were just beautiful! I was throughly impressed by the illustrations, making it a great contender for the next Caldecott medal.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture book. Corina is celebrating a birthday, but before the party she must pick out flowers from her abuela's garden to make her birthday crown. Her abuela encourages her to choose flowers that mean something, connecting her past and her future. Corina chose some that remind her of her pet rabbit, of her grandfather's trumpet, her mother's favorite color, and of sword-fighting with Papa. Then she adds some for strength and hope. She ends up with a beautiful colorful birthday crown that she talks about with all of the party guests. At the end of the day she doesn't want to take it off, but her mother gently reminds her that she will have other coronas in the future.

The illustrations are so warm and inviting, starting with the endpapers full of flowers and butterflies. The love of the family shines through and it is a joy to see abuela's vibrant garden being honored by the birthday crown tradition.

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corina is excited! It is her birthday and her abuela will help her pick out flowers for a special birthday crown. As she explores the garden, her abuela explains that each flower she chooses for her crown should have a special meaning - either representing something from her past, someone in her family, or a wish for the future.
I loved the beautiful illustrations and the emphasis on treasuring those we love. And flowers! Because I love flowers. One of my favorite things about living in Hawaii was being able to wear crowns of flowers. A perfect craft after reading, of course, would be to make flower crowns. They could be real flowers or artificial - or paper! But everyone can enjoy wearing a crown of flowers!
This is not a bilingual book but there are a few Spanish words sprinkled throughout.

[Carol V · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Crown for Corina would be a positive addition to a Cultural Section or Booklist for any library. This story explains the tradition of having a crown of flowers for a Mexican birthday party. It is Coriana's birthday and before the guest arrive for her party, she gets to pick flowers from her Abuela's garden. These flowers will be made into a flower ring, corona, for her to wear at the party. Each flower, the grandmother says, is picked to represent an important person or event in the little girl's life. Wearing the crown, the grandmother asks Corina to think about what she wants to become in life. She gets to make a wish.

Though the flowers will fade, the memories will not. This book is steeped in traditional thoughts and messages. The large flowers and action shots are vivid and lively. The colors evoke warm and happy feelings and expressions!

[Arlene Abundis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical, heart tugging story of Corina’s birthday and how through Abuela’s garden, she discovers the symbolism and deep rooted meaning behind Mexican flowers.

My daughter has Mexican roots from her father, making this book very special to us. My mother in law, her Abuela, loves succulents and helped us plant a beautiful garden years ago. Making this book a cultural treasure in our home to be passed down generationally.

“As Abuela helps me fasten them to my crown, I ask, ‘Why do we wear las coronas, Abuela?’

When we place la corona on our head, we become its roots, reaching back through time to hold on to the things that matter. Our family. Our history.

I touch the flowers again, one by one, and I see it all.
MY STORY.
MAMA’S.
ABUELA’S.”

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a breath of fresh air. This book is all about a flower garden and what a magnificent garden. All sorts of flowers and colors. Amazing. I would love to see a garden like this.

The artwork is fantastic. The colors fill the pages and lighten my spirits just seeing them.

The story is about a girls birthday and she gets to make her own flower crown that will tell her story. She picks flowers that represent her family. Then, she makes this beautiful crown to put on her head. So lovely. Both Artist and authors pictures in the back have them wearing them. They really are beautiful. They also have a pet bunny, very cute, running around everywhere. I love it. It makes me miss my pet bunnies as a kid.

I want one too. They just look so beautiful on a person.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this picture book, it has lovely illustrations, Mexican culture and family traditions.

This story is about Corina who is going to hand pick flowers from her Abuela garden for her crown, which she is going to wear for her birthday party. She learns that she must pick flowers that identify who she is and where she comes from. She chooses flowers that remind her of her family members and history. At the end she made the most beautiful Crown that represents her and her family.

I would add this book to my future classroom library for independent reading and as a read aloud. I like that it teaches kids how flowers are connected to oneself. It also teaches kids the Mexican culture and Spanish words. I would do a craft activity where students can draw and color their own flower crown.

[Delia Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartwarming story filled with history, culture, love, and familia. Corina enjoys spending time with her Abuelita and is excited to make her first crown with her on her birthday. While picking each flower in her grandmother's garden, her Abuelita explains how each flower must have a significance to her. Passed on from tradition, the flower crown represents "who you are and where you come from." A lovely story about traditions rooted in family love. 
I also appreciate how the main character is portrayed with a beautiful full figure compared to other books. I hope to see more books like this that show kids in all sizes 

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this an actual Mexican tradition or just a family tradition? Does it really matter? Bright, beautiful illustrations and a sweet story that sprinkles in a few Spanish words in a way that no translation is needed nor given. A winner.
(Another lovely hat book is Jennie's Hat by the immortal Ezra Jack Keats. It's one of his lesser known books, and would be a charming read to go with this book.)

[Mariana Ríos · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the moment I looked at the end pages of this book, I was excited. The illustrations are gorgeous, they are very colorful and dreamy. The lyrical text flows from one page to the other as the story unfolds with the beauty of the illustrations. The story is about a girl and her family and how the connections among them are rooted in a love that's everlasting. I loved the dialogs between Corina and her Abuela and the explanation of the crown and why the flowers wither. I think that the ending was perfect. This is definitely a wonderful book to read with children.

[Traci Huahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful picture book by Laekan Zea Kemp tells the story of young Corina celebrating her birthday by picking flowers with her abuela to make a floral crown. But it’s not just about finding flowers that are pretty. It’s about finding the ones that are rooted in the people Corina loves and that tell the story of who she is–daughter, granddaughter, wish maker. Elisa Chavarri's bold and vibrant illustrations do a wonderful job bringing this story to life – a joyful celebration of family, traditions and love.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corina is looking for the right flowers to put into her flower crown for a special event. Her grandmother tells her to pick flowers which are meaningful to her, and which tell the story of who she is. Beautifully rendered, I really loved this book. You learn a little about the language of flowers and what they mean. More importantly you are reminded of the importance of family and the things we do to carry our family members with us.

I can't help but wonder what flowers would best represent me if I were to make a flower crown. :)

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celebrating Corina's upcoming birthday, Corina's grandmother walks her through the tradition of creating a flower crown. But the flowers shouldn't be just any flowers, but flowers that have special meaning to the wearer. Abuela explains what some of them mean to her and then Corina goes out to the gardens to pick the ones that mean the most to her.

It celebrates family and connection but also nature and the language of flowers themselves with bright illustrations of the flowers in the gardens.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many delightful elements combine here. Corina's birthday is coming and her abuela helps her make a flower crown. Abuela and Corina talk about each flower in their crown and what (or who) it represents. It's such a meaningful way to talk about their family. The illustrations burst with color and joy.

Note: the illustrator Elisa Chavarri lives in Michigan, and the note about illustrations on the copyright page is lovely.

[Ariana Bollas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about Corina and her making herself a corona of flowers. She picks flowers that represent her family. At night Corina doesn't want to take her crown off but her grandmother reminds her that she will have other coronas but only one family. The theme of this story would be about families. I would recommend this book for students in Kindergarten the bright illustrations would capture their attention. I would add this to my library because it's a great way to begin a family theme week.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the day of celebration for Corina's birthday, she runs through the garden where her grandmother is gathering flowers to create a crown for Corina to wear at the celebration, "Every flower in your crown must tell your story, Corina," her grandmother explains. Gorgeous colorful floral illustrations alongside the dialogue's revealing each flower's symbolism expand the story of the lovely Mexican tradition.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I look out at Abuela's garden, at the bees and butterflies, and I see a language I never knew before."

Corina, a young girl, has heartfelt conversations with her abuela about her garden, her family, and why they wear coronas (flower crowns). Beautiful.

Themes: gardens, culture, abuelas/grandmothers, family, birthdays
Notes: heartfelt, familycentric, vibrant illustrations
Ages: 1-3rd grade+
Pub year: 2023

[Gloria Amescua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and glorious illustrations make this a book to read again and again. A girl learns the meaning of flowers that connect with her family and history as well as who she is as she picks flowers with her abuela. Then she wears her crown of flowers in celebration of her birthday. It’s a touching and lovely book. A must read!