El cuarto turquesa / The Turquoise Room

Review
By Booklist

Prolific children’s book writer Brown brings a personal, intergenerational story to readers in this moving picture book about family, culture, art, and imagination. Using bilingual text (Spanish and English) ensconced by Garcia’s dreamy purple-and-turquoise illustrations, Brown blends fact and fantasy as she recounts the legacies of her grandmother Esther and mother, Isabel. As a child, Esther dreamed about exploring the world beyond her native country of Peru and found her escape in drawing and painting. Later, Esther painted her daughter’s room a beautiful turquoise and whispered fantastic stories of adventure to her baby, Isabel. Isabel inherited her mother’s talents and far-reaching ambitions, eventually moving to the U.S. and becoming an artist. And when Isabel had her daughter Monica, she also wove incredible tales “of butterflies and flight, of color and art, and of her grandmother Esther” and encouraged Monica to “fly away and explore.” In this very book, Brown keeps alive her family’s tradition of carrying and sharing one’s history, culture, and customs with younger generations. The beautifully translated Spanish further enhances the story’s message.