Tania de Regil’s newest picture book for young children, A New Home, is unique in the sense that the exact same story has also been published in Spanish, Un Nuevo Hogar.
This book tells the story of two young children, who have to move away from their current home, to a new city, New York City, and Mexico City. The story describes the aspects and experiences of the children’s current city that they will miss such as cheering on their home sports team, or nights out to a concert or show in the city.
The story is told as if one child is speaking, but through the illustrations you can see the lives and story being relevant to both children as both New York City and Mexico City is portrayed. Through the text, the reader understands the comfort and loyalty each child has to their home city, and through the illustrations you understand the different cultures of each city and how they’ve affected the child in different ways.
This story is a perfect one for parents to read to their children who might be moving, as a way for the child to understand that other children go through a similar experience, and it is okay to miss what you have grown to love, but that there are also similar experiences and opportunities in your new city!
The informational page about New York City and Mexico City in the back of the book provides a great resource for teachers who might be doing a lesson on different cultures or aspects of different cities that might be similar and different. The informational page provides explanations and descriptions of some of the scenes talked about in the story, which makes the book even that much more meaningful to learn about someone else’s culture and why it is so special to them.
-Sarah Ockenhouse
Neely's News 