Awards
2011 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award
Synopses & Reviews
This prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book
Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma witnesses his fascination, and presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift—a sketchbook and colored pencils—to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heartwarming story of self-discovery,
Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild.
Review
"The realistic oil paintings reveal a strong and stylish grandmother of great character.... The sweetly understated story has Spanish words and sentences skillfully woven into the text throughout with translations provided in parentheses." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"The pleasing, realistic oil paintings include a well-done replica of the famous painting. Those who appreciated the personal connections between grandmother and grandson in the earlier book will again be satisfied with this story, which incorporates Spanish phrases." Booklist
Review
"Velasquez's full-bleed paintings transport readers to another time and place and expertly capture the characters' personalities and emotions. A gift, indeed." School Library Journal
Synopsis
This prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma witnesses his fascination, and presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift — a sketchbook and colored pencils — to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heartwarming story of self-discovery, Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild.
Synopsis
This prequel to Velasquez's biographical picture book Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. Full color.
Synopsis
The Pura Belpre Illustrator Award winner, now in paperback.
About the Author
ERIC VELASQUEZ is the author and illustrator of Grandma's Records and the illustrator of The Piano Man, for which he won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. His most recent collaborations with Carole Boston Weatherford include I, Matthew Henson, which received four starred reviews, and Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive, which received two starred reviews. He is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and lives in New York.www.ericvelasquez.com