Josefina Learns A Lesson

Josefina Learns A Lesson is written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles.
Children's novel
2nd-5th grade
3 out of 5
Josefina Learns A Lesson is a book from The American Girls Collection. It is about a young girl, Josefina, who lives alone with her sisters after her mother has passed away. Her Aunt Dolores comes to live on their ranch. Soon after she comes, the families sheep are wiped out from a flash flood. To help the family survive after their loss Aunt Dolores has the idea to open a sewing business. The girls begin to worry they may forget their mother with all of the changes being made by Aunt Dolores but when she teaches them to read and write they are able to remember her through keeping a diary.
I liked This children's novel because it was very different then normal children's books. It had many words that were in Spanish so young children can also begin to learn a new language. I also liked it because it has a section at the end called "A Peek Into The Past", which actually shows real pictures and tells about what life was like in the time the book took place. The book has pictures throughout it which break up the reading so that the reader has something else to look at. There is also a section of pictures in the beginning that shows Josefina's family and friends so that the reader can look at this guide if they are confused. The illustrations in the book really add to the plot because they show what living in New Mexico looked like. You can see the style of clothing, the bright colors used, and the living situation.
I got the chance to read a portion of this book to 2nd grader; I think that Josefina Learns A Lesson may have been to advanced for her reading level. I say this because she did not seem interested in the story and she was not able to understand the plot. Although there is a Spanish dictionary for the Spanish words throughout the book, it was still hard for her to remember the words and their pronunciations. This book could possibly be used as a trade book when learning about life in the past. I do not think that it would be good book to read to an entire class because it is more aimed for girls because it is an American Girls Doll book.