Review of Tomas and the Librarian by Pat Mora, Illustrated by Raul Colon

1. Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 1997. TOMAS AND THE LIBRARY LADY. Ill. by Raul Colon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0679804013

2. Plot Summary
This is a very heart-felt picture book that is about a young Tomas Rivera who lives in Texas during the winters and in Iowa during the summers as a child. His parents are vegetable and fruit pickers for farmers. He forms a love of story telling by listening to his grandfather. Tomas goes to the public library in Iowa and meets a caring, encouraging librarian who fosters his love for reading even further by giving him books and asking him to teacher her Spanish. Tomas is transformed into another world when he reads his books, allowing his love of reading to grow and grow even when he has to leave Iowa and the librarian he adored.

3. Critical Analysis
Mora's use of syntax is intriguing. As the story begins, the author writes in a mixture of short, concise, complete sentences along with fragments. As the plot unfolds, the reader begins to notice a more complex grammatical structure with longer simple sentences and some complex. This seems to be because as Tomas' love of reading grows, so does the author's need to express more complex ideas. The library is both literal and symbolic for Tomas. Symbolic in the sense that Tomas has found a place of escape, a place where his mind is free to wander from the hard work of the day. Mora does an excellent job of establishing the freedom and excitement Tomas feels through reading at the library in particular.

Raul Colon's illustrations fill the reader with sentiments of understanding. Readers are able to get a sense of what Tomas is feeling through the way that Tomas's mouth/facial expressions change from page to page. Much of the setting is depicted through sepia tones and a bit of blurriness through the brush strokes giving off a feeling of nostalgia of the 1950s. The beauty of the illustrations lie in the facial expressions of the characters. The reader truly gets a feel of what the characters are feeling - from Tomas when he holds a book and shows his love for it, to the librarian when she watches Tomas with admiration and respect when he teaches her words from Spanish, to Tomas's mother and grandfather when they curiously watch Tomas retell stories.

This book is appropriate for all ages. It may be difficult for emerging readers to read as the plot line progresses, but the illustrations help and enhance the meaning of the book's main theme of exploration and discovery through reading and the impact a librarian or educator can truly have on a child. This beautiful story would be wonderful for teaching many different lessons for small children all the way through high school students.

4. Review Excerpt(s)
AMAZON.COM REVIEW- "Sometimes you read a story and it almost seems too nice. This book may seem to be one of those at first, but the difference is that this story is true! Tomás and the Library Lady is the wonderfully illustrated tale of Tomás Rivera and the kind librarian who helped him learn to love books.
From BOOKLIST: "Colon's beautiful scratchboard illustrations, in his textured, glowingly colored, rhythmic style, capture the warmth and the dreams that the boy finds in the world of books."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "While young readers and future librarians will find this an inspiring tale, the end note gives it a real kick: the story is based on an actual migrant worker [Tomás Rivera] who became chancellor of a university--where the library now bears his name."

5. Connections
*This book lends itself to any lessons on multi-culturalism and the blending of cultures through reading.
*This book would be excellent to use on a lesson about sentence structure an syntax for most ages.
*Compare and contrast other books with the same themes:
Stewart, Sarah. 2008. THE LIBRARY. Ill. by David Small. ISBN 0312384548.
Willams, Suzanne. 1998. LIBRARY LIL. Ill. by Steven Kellog. ISBN 0590511882