"I ask Abuela because
she has been everything
under the Sun and the Moon.
She says she's still
figuring out what to be
when she grows up.
Abuela, when I grow up,
what will I be?"
It is a question asked too often of young children. This exchange begins when one of the children in her play group asks, and our young narrator has some quick answers: an astronaut, a unicorn or a clown. It is not surprising response. Little ones always have aspirations, even those that are not necessarily possible. That's what comes from dreams for the future. Her friends are not satisfied. They want to know more.
A visit with her grandmother raises the question. Abuela, sitting in her artist's studio, turns the question back to her granddaughter. Only she will determine the future she wants for herself. Abuela is certain that she needs to listen to her heart, which is exactly what the child does.
Concentrating on what her heart is telling her, the answers are quick to come and they are numerous. Together, the two imagine the numerous dreams that could come to fruition as the child grows and changes: builder of homes, a warrior with pen and paint, an explorer of ancestral lands, a farmer, a healer of broken hearts, a teacher and a student. Her abuela agrees that she can be all of those things, and reminds her that she need not do it alone.
"All these things you can be
and more. But remember,
when a job is too big for little
hands, many hands can work
miracles."
Kate Alizadeh used 'scanned in pencil line, scanned in textures and Photoshop to create the digital illustrations' that bring the loving relationship between Abuela and her granddaughter so beautifully to young readers. The illustrative changes from front to back endpapers are a delight to see, and speak clearly to the unlimited possibilities that await.
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