Mama and Papa Have a Store

This book is very unique since it is about a Chinese migrant family living in a Latino country and coexisting with Mayan communities! This beautiful multicultural book is beautifully written and illustrated. I read this was the first book from Amelia Lau Carling and it has won an award already. I really hope Amelia writes more books. Her multicultural and rich perspective would be an asset to the literature for children and young readers.

This book was recommended by a bookstore owner and also by a young friend who is 13. After reading the latter's praise, I couldn't wait to get hold of my own copy. Each sentence comes from the soul; each brushstroke applied with love. The book becomes richer upon rereading for the details come alive when we quiet down to the level of the author's voice. The words and pictures come together so that 2 plus 2 equals more than 4! This book will find a place in the heart of an especially artistic, poetic, sensitive child.

Ms. Lau Carling shares treasured memories of life as a small child in Guatemala City in a way that captures both the power and magic of a young child's world. The sound of her mother chopping food in the kitchen, the anticipation of waiting for brothers and sisters to come home from school, the game of sliding down the roof, and the way the breadcrumbs fall to the bottom of the fish tank are all brought to life with the power that comes from simple words from the heart. Also the illustrator of the book, Ms. Lau Carling recreates warm, busy scenes from her family home and store that that invite both the parent and the child in for a visit.

Amelia Lau Carling has beautifully written and illustrated a happy, touching book about a creative, loving and energetic Chinese family in Guatemala. MAMA AND PAPA HAVE A STORE is particularly relevant as the United States continues to benefit from a wide diversity of peoples who join and enrich its culture, and as many people continue to be forced to put down roots outside their native lands. The book¹s message says, "Take heart! The world is a friendly place. Home can be established anywhere."

I am Beto, the author's brother. The book has been awarded the Americas Award for Children and Young Adult Literature by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs!I have to say that my sister Mely captured the flavor and ambience of our childhood very well. It was a unique world, so unusual that it would have been impossible to invent. We were a Chinese family living in Guatemala City, and everything about our circumstances was out of the ordinary. Unlike other families, we lived behind our parents fabric store, which in turn was unlike other fabric stores in that custormers could also buy firecrackers, toys, porcelain Buddhas, and soy sauce! Guatemalan Indians would buy silk imported from China and weave their best weavings with it. Looking back, that was a singular connection because my parents came from a small village near Canton where the main economic activity was gathering silk from silkworms.We ate Chinese food for every meal, except for breakfast, which was more like a Guatemalan breakfast (hot milk and pan dulce). Mama went to the market every day and cooked everything from scratch on a woodburning stove. She bought live chickens and ducks, and kept them in a cage in the patio, fattening them up with leftover rice. When the time came to eat one, she would slit its throat with a Chinese cleaver. After the bird had bled to death she would plunge it in scalding water to better pluck its feathers off. Don't worry, this last part is not in the book.I will always be grateful for the experiences I had as a child growing up in such circumstances, for they enriched my life and gave me a unique perspective. And I am so proud of my sister Mely for transforming our childhood into a work of art.