In My Family / En mi familia

by Carmen Lomas Garza

In her eagerly-awaited second book for children, In My Family/En mi familia, internationally-renowned artist Carmen Lomas Garza takes us once again to her hometown of Kingsville, Texas, near the border with Mexico. Through vibrant paintings and warm personal stories, Carmen brings to life more loving memories of growing up in a traditional Mexican American community: eating empanadas, witnessing the blessing on her cousin's wedding day, and dancing to the conjunto band at the neighborhood restaurant.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Latinx, Realistic Fiction, Spanish Literature, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Carmen Lomas Garza was born in Kingsville, Texas, in 1948. Inspired by her parent's activism with the American G.I. Forum, Garza joined the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

She is a graduate of the Texas Arts & Industry University, Juarez-Lincoln/Antioch Graduate School, and San Francisco State University where she earned her M.A. in 1981. Garza is a recipient of numerous awards and has exhibited her work in galleries and museums across the United States.

Reviews

[Cynda Reads]

When I was a graduate student, Lomas went to Kingsville to visit her family in the late 1990s. While she was there, she gave a presentation at the university's art gallery. She is one of several famous artists who graduated from that same university in South Texas, including Amado Pena. Lomas' main professor teased her about her problems with perspective. My non-artist self cannot detect that problem here. She may have worked that out. They reason she probably had that proble, with perspective is because she uses an interesting perspective in this artwork.

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/in-my...

At the time of her presentation she had recently published Family Pictures / Cuadros de Familia. My son was still little, so I bought the book that night. I had not thought that Sandra Lomas Garza would publish another similar book, just didn't think she would for no particular reason. So today at the library, I was pleasantly surprised. Because mostly the subject is the same--family members of her family--the subjects are similar.

I will be writing more notes in my annual thread about hispanic culture. You are welcome to read those notes and comment there as well.

Added Bonus: The sketches/explanations accompanying the prints are bilingual, first in English and then in Spanish. An opportunity for me to easily remember more of my Spanish.

[Kari]

This book features various stories of the author’s childhood and culture. It gives family stories of wedding and birthdays and stories of cultural significance like the one about the “Virgin of Guadalupe." It has both English and Spanish text, so it would be a great tool to use for English language learners or students learning Spanish. It is a multicultural/international picture book, and it received the Pura Belpre Award and the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. Themes include family, culture, and history.

[RLL22016Mirella Carreno]

Basically, since I'm Hispanic, I can relate to many of the scenarios the author places us in as we see her art. Each picture is like looking at a picture from a scrapbook. As she talked, I felt myself think back to my own memories with my family. I think she did a great job of relaying our culture to others. Other cultures can relate as well because, after all, we all have families of our very own.

[Vamos a Leer]

Lomas Garza’s desire to celebrate her Mexican American identity makes this book a great resource for introducing Hispanic Heritage Month in the classroom.
Created over a span of 11 years, the paintings show scenes of colorful, lively, symbolic images specific to life in a Mexican-American family living near the U.S./Mexico borderlands. The text and pictures complement each other with reoccurring themes such as family, food, rural life, religious and healing traditions, multi-generational gatherings, the natural environment, among others. Lomas Garza honors these traditions which shaped her own childhood by depicting them in beautiful paintings.

Family is a major theme throughout the book, just as it is an important part of Latino and specifically Mexican culture. In the paintings we see various gatherings in which family and community members of all ages come together to partake in an event. The author mentions this multi-generational aspect in her text accompanying the piece Birthday Barbeque.

Another particularly interesting aspect of the book is the representation of rural life, such as farm settings and the presence of animals. These depictions touch on the importance of growing and sharing food, particularly in a reality of scarcity. Readers are pulled into rural life through vivid imagery images of the natural environment of the near-borderland region of Kingsville, TX, the hometown of the author where the paintings are set.

The book’s layout is well executed; it is consistent, with each painting on the right page, and text on the left, with a short summary in both English and Spanish. The side-by-side text is useful for bilingual students. Even more so than language, though, the book is especially effective at celebrating and preserving heritage. Lomas Garza immortalizes her Mexican-American family heritage by portraying it through her paintings and descriptions. In this way, young readers of any heritage can appreciate the celebration of Hispanic culture and learn about Mexican-American traditions.
To read our full review including links to classroom resources, visit the Vamos a Leer blog at http://tiny.cc/vamosaleer

[Leane]

"In My Family/En Mi Familia" is author and illustrator Carmen Lomas Garza's second book about a Mexican-American girl's experiences. It is very much like a photo album, except original artwork replaces photographs. "In My Family/En Mi Familia" is basically a series of paintings that tell Garza's story as a little girl growing up in Kingston, Texas, a town on the border of the United States and Mexico. Many of her paintings are pictures that depict Mexican cultural experiences. One of my favorite pictures is her entire family gathering together for a special annual event when her aunt and uncle would make dozens of empanadas for the family to eat. Her illustration shows a cozy kitchen scene with many family members smiling, eating, and working together. It reminds me very much of my own big family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Easter. Other scenes include a birthday barbecue complete with a pinata, decorating Easter eggs (casacarones), a woman and her sons worshipping a painting of the Virgin of Gaudalupe, a mother's blessing to her daughter on her wedding day, and a dance at a local restaurant.

My favorite part of this book is the author's ability to share details from her childhood, such as the ever-present pictures of the Virgin of Gaudalupe on the walls of the house, the knick-knacks sitting on her grandmother's nightstand and hanging on her walls, the patterns of the curtains in the kitchen, and so forth. It really made me feel as though I were visiting Garza's home and experiencing her childhood alongside her. Students can make their own books similar to this with drawings of special scenes from their childhood. Teachers can encourage them to share parts of their culture, just as Garza does.

[Reva Taylor]

Summary: This book is about a girl named Carmen’s family and her continuing tribute to the family and community, Kingsville, Texas, that has made her into who she is today. Carmen talks about the foods she eats, the events she goes to, and even the dancing that takes place in her town.
Evaluation: I gave this book an overall rating of 3. Although I think the book is very interesting and does a very efficient job in representing other cultures, I think the illustrations are missing many elements. They are not clear and do not give readers an insight of how the culture is.
Teaching Point: I think this book would be a perfect book for an interactive read aloud for 1st graders. After reading the book, I think it would be fun for students to make posters about where they come from, what traditions they do in their house and during the holidays, and more. After each student has finished making their poster, they can all share individually in front of their class so that students can understand more about their peers.

[Kristin Thomas]

Summary: "En Mi Familia" is about a young girl named Carmen who takes her readers to her hometown of Kingsville Texas. Carmen thinks back to wonderful memories of eating empanadas, witnessing the blessing of her cousin's wedding and dancing at a restaurant.

Evaluation: I rated this book a 3. I found the illustrations to be a little misleading. It seemed as if they left out a few things that would be important to include to give the reader insight on one's culture.

Teaching Point: This book would be great for a teacher to use when discussing culture. After reading this book, the teacher could have his/her students do a project on their own culture. They could do a powerpoint, handout, poster, etc. The students could include traditions, holiday celebrations, food, etc.

[Amie]

In my Family/En Mi Familia is written and illustrated by one of the foremost Mexican American Painters. Carmen Lomas Garza gives us little stories on each page of her book about memories from growing up in a traditional Mexican American community, first in English then in Spanish. I enjoyed learning a lot about Mexican traditions from reading this book. Some of my favorites were Easter Eggs, Healer and The Weeping Woman. Students K-8th grade would enjoy this book, although stories like The Weeping Woman may not be appropriate for younger children.

[Katherine]

This book is about the author's paintings/illustrations and the stories behind them in an autobiographical sense. Each page is a different memory the author remembers from ther childhood and culture. Along with the picutre, the text is inluded both in English and Spanish on the page. Her ethnicity and culture comes from the Hispnic and Latin American side. This story will grab children's attention because there many different stories ranging from family celebrations, traditions, to myths in the author's culture. The text and plot is presented in ways children will be able to understand because every family has their own tradtions and can relate to it in that way. They will also learn about the Mexican culure and get an isight of their customs. The illustrations are greatly colorful. The author mixes many colors and does not miss a detail. She uses a lot of colorful paints which I believe does a good job of showing the vibrancy of the culture. Futhuremore, I made a special connection with it because it reminded me of my culture, as I am Mexican too. I think the author did a great job of telling stories of different aspects of the culture, ranging from old school tradtions to religion as well. My only worry I have is regarding a reader who does not know anything about the Mexican culture and is critical of the stories that could be seen as strange. For example, the story of the 'healer' that would come to her house to 'cure' the families' problem could be seen as very skeptical, as well as the story of seeing a picture of a religious figure in the water tank. However, as children, I hope they do not question it, but I hope they see it more couriously.

[Maribel Galvez]

Grade/interest level: Upper Elementary (3-5)
Reading level: 3.9 (Lexile 680L)
Genre: Multicultural, Picture Book

Main Characters: Carmen and her family
Setting: Kingsville, Texas
POV: Carmen

The illustrations in the book are paintings by Carmen Lomas Garza, which tell stories of her childhood growing up in Kingsville, Texas near the Mexican border. She remembers watching her brother play with horned toads in the hot sun in the middle of the day, seeing her grandfather shaving off thorns from freshly cut cactus pads, and witnessing her father receiving an unconventional earache treatment from her mother. Carmen and her family would often get together for many special events, like making and enjoying empanadas with her Aunt Paz and Uncle Beto, a barbecue birthday party for her sister Mary Jane, and a dance at El Jardín, a local neighborhood restaurant. In total, there are thirteen paintings, which demonstrate her pride in her Mexican American heritage.

I would use this book as a part of a unit on families, culture, and history. Students could write and draw their own family traditions and create their own In My Family books. Since the book has English and Spanish translations, it could be used in a bilingual classroom or to help English language learners in a general education classroom.

[Osamantha]

In My Family/En Mi Familia, is an Autobiographical piece written by Carmen Lomas Garza a Mexican-American. This book is a series of short stories told both in Spanish and English. The illustrations are paintings by Garza and the text tells the story of the painting. The stories and paintings depict different aspects of her life growing up as a Mexican-American in Texas. Her stated reason for wanting to write this book was to push back against the status-quo which punished her for speaking Spanish or celebrating her culture and express pride in her Latina culture.

There is no plot linking the various short stories and a such no problem to be solved by the characters. Instead each story could be taken by itself with no loss of meaning. I would foresee these short stories being used both individually for mini lessons about Mexican-American life, or all together as an introductory story.

[Rian]

Summary: This picture book is like a family album, with paintings instead of photographs.

Response: I love Carmen Lomas Garza'a painting style - her use of color and the way she captures detail and expressions in a somewhat folk-art style are utterly beautiful. Her explanations of each painting are beautifully and simply written, highlighting cultural details that are new to me (windows) while emphasizing the warmth and love of family and the simple moments they share that we can ALL relate to (mirrors). It is a beautiful book on so many levels, not to be missed in by teachers or families.

PICTURE BOOK

[Nicole Godinez]

When I was home schooled I was the only Latin girl in my class. I had a hard time adjusting and meeting to others in the program. My mom read this book to me and to be honest this was the first book that actually inspired me to draw and paint because of its vivid colors and the culture came alive in this book. This book also talked about the Mexican culture and community. I could relate to this book because of the culture and growing up in a traditional Mexican family. Each character reminded me of members of my own family, because of the home remedies, and the healers. I definitively enjoyed this book as a child and still enjoy it to this day

[Tammie]

A book of the life of a young spanish girl,Carmen, growing up in Texas. The story is in English and Spanish.The book could be used read out loud to younger younger students, as a phonological tool, and to talk about language, ours, and others. It depicts the stories and celebrations of Carmen and her family. She paints family instead of phtograpghing them, but it is her family she paints. I found this a wonderfully interesting story. It is realisitc and colorful, definately can hold even young readers attention.This a great for cultural diversity and could be used to talk about character, settings, differences ans similaritites in cultural celebrations.

[Sharon Medina]

This book is about Carmen Garza’s true life events of a traditional Mexican-American community. The stories are written in English and in Spanish to be shared. Garza shares events such as wedding, making empanadas as a family, making cascarones. Garza also shared special events such as the blessing that the mother gives before her daughter gets married and a family trip to go see the Virgin of Guadalupe that had appeared on a water tank.

Genre: Non-Fiction Literature
Suggest Age: 8 to 12 years old

[J-Lynn Van Pelt]

This bilingual English/Spanish book could be read as a read aloud, or the individual pictures and their descriptions could be used as stand alone resources.

The pictures and the stories come from Garza's own childhood and family stories. The illustrations border on cartoon realism with intricate background detail combined with stiff human figures.

I think this book would be most useful as an artist study--looking into Carmen Lomas Garza's art.

[Leticia Resendiz]

I really enjoyed this picture book. I like the way Garza painted these drawings to demonstrate her culture and the culture of many of the Latinos living in the United States. It is a really good book to use in class for a Spanish or in a class/school with a Latino population. Likewise it is good to demonstrate the Mexican American culture to other cultures. I really enjoyed what Carmen Lomas Garza had to say about each picture in the book.

[Stephanie]

A book of memories that take place in Kingsville, Texas, near the border of Mexico. The pictures are in full color and the memories are personal. Carmen Lomas Garza grew up in a very traditional Mexican-American community and her books really give the reader a clear depiction of what it was like.

Activity- Each child should create a diorama of their family, and share some of their favorite memories.

[Kimberley]

This is one of those books that can be read in a bilingual classroom like mine without having to read the text. The illustrations explain the story all on their own and the children can quickly share out their experiences and personal connections with one another. This is a good one to read at the beginning of the school year when you want the kids to tell about themselves to get to know them a little more.

[Breana Vining]

The author of this book, Carmen Garza, includes excerpts about her life and what it was like growing up in her hometown. I would say that this book serves as a biography and I think that this book is culturally relevant for the classroom, especially since there are so many Spanish speaking students in the classrooms today. [This book is not to be used as a read aloud.:]

[Hope Johnson]

This is a great book for ESOL children. Since the book is both in English and Spanish, it can help Spanish speaking children out with English words having hem both on the page. It also teaches children a lot about Hispanic culture. It explains different parts of their culture in a way that is easy for children to understand.

[529_Gary]

Carmen Lomas Garza gives us vibrant paintings and a story to go along with them. She tells us stories of the different things that her family had done. This book is good to use for bilingual students because it has English and Spanish text on each page. It is perfect to share some aspects of the latino culture.

[Lorraine Robinson]

This book is great to have in the class for ELLs and children of Hispanic descent. It can be used to talk about families of other cultures. Have English and Spanish so children who are fluent in Spanish can feel proud to read something in their native language. It can also be helpful in comparing English to Spanish words.

[Crystal]

Carmen Lomas Garza shares vignettes about her childhood and family through text and her artwork. They are glimpses into the daily life and celebrations that she grew up with and that shaped her. This would be a great mentor text for personal narrative. The text is presented in both English and Spanish and the book is a celebration of her culture.

[Ragina]

Excellent book, I use it in my beginning Spanish classes when introducing "family" vocabulary. Students write and illustrate their own family traditions in Spanish or English, whichever is their native tongue.

[Sharmin]

This book shows memories of a Mexican-American family. The illustrations depict the culture of the Latinos living in the United States. This book is very interesting and informative. Students will be able to relate. Great read during Hispanic heritage month!

[Jessica]

Written in Spanish and English. Pictures painted by the author about her family traditions. Can be used to teach students about different cultures or to value cultures present in the classroom that may be different.

[Megan MacDonald]

This book explains through words and pictures the traditions of a Mexican American family and community. Written in Spanish and English, the reader will get an idea of what it would be like to experience the Spanish social life and customs and the fun they have together.

[Caroline Barnett]

I would use this book as culture study of Mexican-American Families. This book would be a great book to have in class so students can relate to or learn more about the Mexican Culture that is so much a part of the United States.

[Brittnee]

This is written in Spanish and English, so it is great to ESOL students. The Pictures drawn by the author about her family traditions. This book can be used to teach students about different cultures or to value cultures present in the classroom that may be different from their own.