Due out 12th April 2022 from Annick Press, it's 32 pages and will be available in hardcover format. Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.Ībuelita and Me is a sweetly illustrated and perceptively written book for young readers (~4-7 years) by Dr. so that hopefully, one day, racism will be just a terrible memory of the past. It is delicate, sweet, lovely, it has stunning and soft illustrations that speak volumes - perhaps more than the words themselves did - and it manages to show a reality so harsh in a way that kids can understand and learn from it. This is an incredible picture book that any kid should read. Here we have a smiling joyful grandma and her little niece, who is confused at how people act around them and is frightened by a big mean bus driver who snarls at them only because they didn't pay the fare the instant they stepped into the bus. I say all of that as a grown up reading it, a grown up who knows the extent to which racism goes to every single day. Even writing this and thinking back to these pages, my hands are curling into fists and shaking from the anger and frustration of it all. I'm so sad and so angry, sad for seeing the little girl's fear and the grandma's own sadness and angry for the injustices that bipoc people (latinx, in this case) have to face always, even when they aren't doing anything or interacting with anyone but you can see it in the eyes and the posture of those around them. It's the first time I finish reading a picture book and I feel a pang in my chest and tears forming behind my eyes that are trying to force their way out and spill all over.

Abuelita and Me by Leonarda Carranza