The abuela shares both plátanos and love as she communicates heritage and history to her granddaughters. The granddaughters work together with their abuela to prepare and share the plátanos. They listen and ask questions.
Educational Value
a lot
Teaches how to choose and prepare plátanos, including how the family's ancestors harvested, prepared, and shared them. Three recipes are included in the back of the book. Includes many Spanish words, with a glossary at the back. The granddaughters model helping with the food prep in age appropriate ways.
Diverse Representations
a lot
Story focuses on a Latina family. Author Alyssa Reynoso-Morris is a queer Afro Latina Dominican and Puerto Rican writer, who self-identifies as Latinae/x. The characters read as Afro Latina. Illustrator Mariyah Rahman was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. Illustrations show diverse skin tones and hair styles. Scenes show the family's ancestors harvesting and cooking plantains in a palm-tree-filled place, presumably in the Caribbean. Back matter recognizes different names used across Latin America and the Caribbean for the same dishes.
Remember your ancestors. Sharing your heritage is love.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Plátanos Are Love is a bilingual picture book, written by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris and illustrated by Mariyah Rahman, that emphasizes connection to family, both past and present. The story shows two granddaughters and their abulea (grandmother) shopping for and cooking plátanos (plantains) together. They communicate beautifully and are good examples of how children can work together with their adults. There's a brief mention of how their ancestors persevered through inequality that may prompt questions from some readers and listeners.
This delightful picture book will draw kids in with warm illustrations full of blues and greens, reds and yellows, while the bilingual text also inspires warmth as well as nostalgia. The faded white, brown, and green illustrations of the past give a lovely contrast to the vibrant illustrations of the present.
Small children will be happy to see how the granddaughters help their abuela with the plátanos, and by the end of Plátanos Are Love, they will be eager to try out the included recipes.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about love and heritage in Plátanos Are Love. What do your family members share with each other to show love?
Esme works with and learns from her grandmother, is there anyone who you want to work with? What would you learn and do with them?
Try out the recipes in the back of the book! Which one is your favorite?
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