Mice and Beans by Pam Munoz Ryan-Author Study

I absolutely loved this book! I felt like the story did a good job drawing the reader in and the illustrations were very colorful!! This story is about Rosa, a grandmother, who is planning her granddaughter’s birthday party. She goes to great lengths to make sure all the details are set. The book gives a day to day run-down of the things she has to get done and prepare for the party. She has to cook a meal for many people, get a piñata ready and get all the decorations ready. But throughout the story she feels like there’s someone else helping her or things are moved from their place where she originally put them. Rosa disregards it because she is so busy cooking and planning! She has a saying, “When there’s room in the heart, there’s room in the house…except for a mouse.” Also throughout the story she keeps setting mouse traps to keep the potential mice away from her house and food. After the big fiesta, Rosa realizes the mice that inhabited her place were actually helping her all along. She embraces the fact that they are living among her and she even changed her little saying. “When there’s room in the heart, there’s room in the house…even for a mouse. I also really liked how the author incorporated some Spanish phrases into the story to really enhance the Spanish feeling of the book. The description of a big noisy family gathering sounds so inviting after reading this story! (Also, on the back cover there is a recipe for the rice and beans that is a part of the meal that Rosa cooks in the story..added bonus!)