Bibliography:
Soto, Gary. (1997). Snapshots from the Wedding. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 9780399228087
Summary:
In this book Maya is telling about the wedding she attended through describing the snapshots. She was the flower girl during the wedding, and from her standing point she can look back and see the people in the pews. She describes some of the people, as in her cousin who wiggles his tongue between the spaces in his teeth, or her aunt who is crying. She describes the bridesmaids and groomsmen as well as the altar boy and the priest. She makes sure to tell the store of the groom, who broke his arm playing softball, which is why his arm is in the cast for his wedding. The couple says “I do” and then they kiss before everyone starts to cry. Everyone then heads to the party afterwards where there is food and drinks, a mariachi band, wedding cake, and lots of dancing. Maya dances and plays with the other kids during the party before getting sleepy. She has a piece of the wedding cake and dances on the tops of her father’s shoes before leaving. She falls asleep in the car ride home, and when she wakes up she declares that it was definitely a wedding to remember.
Impressions:
The author manages to narrate the book in such a way to give the illusion of a young Hispanic girl’s ramblings complete with occasional Spanish phrases without isolating English only readers. It was very clever to also include a glossary in the front of the book, for there was a word or two even I didn’t know from my brief high school Spanish classes. The artwork is unique, being that they are themselves snapshots of the dioramas of the hand crafted figurines. I thought the book was pretty funny because I could easily hear the rambling talk of a child as they narrate some event that they happened to attend. The details are random and sporadically placed, and all in all, very amusing.
Reviews:
"Created with Sculpy clay, acrylic paints, wood, ribbons, and flowers, the art is displayed in large boxes set against pages covered with lace. The doll-like members of the wedding are exaggerated just enough to be amusing; at times, just a body part or two are highlighted, as when Maya's feet are shown on top of her father's while they dance. Just like a wedding album, this will be looked at over and over."
Cooper, Ilene. (February 15, 1997). American Library Association [Review of the book Snapshots from the Wedding.]. Booklist. Available from booksinprint.com
"Photographs of shadowboxes filled with sculpted clay figures form the eye-catching art for Soto's 'diary' of Maya, a flower girl. The text, sprinkled with Spanish words, is eloquent and …and it deftly captures the flavor of a Latino wedding, complete with mariachi band."
(January 21, 1997). PWxyz LLC [Review of the book Snapshots from the Wedding.]. Publisher's Weekly. Available from booksinprint.com
Suggestions For Use:
For this book, I would read it to the children and afterwards have the children draw pictures of things that happened during a major event in their life. Afterwards, they could all share with the class, giving their own narration to the pictures just like Maya. To extend this, real pictures could be brought in the next time of an event and shared in the same way.
For this book, I would read it to the children and afterwards have the children draw pictures of things that happened during a major event in their life. Afterwards, they could all share with the class, giving their own narration to the pictures just like Maya. To extend this, real pictures could be brought in the next time of an event and shared in the same way.
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