This sweet and funny story about sibling rivalry and the tradition of making tamales is told from the perspective of Ana, who yearns to be like her big sister. Stage actress Gabriella Cavallero's voice brings the rhythmic prose to life with her tenderhearted reading in flawless English and Spanish.Illustrated by April Ward. Read by Gabriela Cavallero

Growing Up with Tamales / Los Tamales de Ana (Hardcover w/CD) (English and Spanish Edition)

Teen & Young Adult

Gwendolyn Zepeda

Literature & Fiction

Art Pr

"My name is Ana. Every year, my family makes tamales for Christmas. This year, I am six, so I get to mix the dough, which is made of cornmeal. My sister Lidia is eight, so she gets to spread the dough on the corn husk leaves. I wish I was eight, so that my hands would be big enough to spread the dough just right--not too thick and not too thin." 
And so the years pass, and Ana turns eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen. But every year, big sister Lidia is always two years older. Ana envies her elder sibling and wishes she could do what Lidia does: put just the right amount of meat inside the tamales and roll them up; steam the tamales without scalding herself with the hot, hot steam; chop and cook the meat for the tamales without cutting or burning her hands. 
When she turns eighteen, though, Ana knows she will keep making tamales and she will be able to do all of the steps herself in her very own factory. When Christmas comes around, Ana will deliver tamales to all of her customers around the world, in delivery trucks that say "Ana's Tamales." And maybe Ana will even let Lidia work for her. 
Gwendolyn Zepeda's rhythmic prose is combined with April Ward's bright illustrations to create an affectionate and amusing story about sibling relationships that introduces an important Hispanic holiday tradition--making tamales!

Growing Up With Tamales / Los tamales de Ana (English and Spanish Edition)

Children's Books

Holidays & Celebrations

Pinata Books

David is obsessed with reaching the next level in his favorite video game. Whether he's playing BunnyBot Fighters or Ultimate Rhino Races, he's so single minded in his pursuit of reaching the next level that he turns down invitations from friends to play outside. But one day, his game quits working, and he's on "Level Sad." So, with nothing else to do, he reluctantly goes outside to play. "Today I'm trying to skateboard. I have to learn to stand on the skateboard while it rolls, without falling off. It feels like I'm on Level One of a really hard game." But if he can master staying on the board, his friend Michael will show him how to do turns, and "that'll be like Level Two." Soon, David is doing turns and is ready to learn how to do jumps! Still unable to play video games, David lets his friend Bianca convince him to try playing basketball. Dribbling is hard, but David wants to level up so he'll get a new red jersey. Pretty soon, he's on Level 12 of skateboarding and Level 8 of basketball, and he's ready to try diving and dirt biking. Eventually his video game is fixed, but by then he has discovered that leveling up in real life is more exciting than leveling up on the screen. Popular kids' book author Gwendolyn Zepeda teams up again with artist and illustrator Pablo Torrecilla to create a lively story that will have young readers laughing in commiseration with a kid consumed by imaginary goals. Following up on their acclaimed I Kick the Ball / Pateo el balon, this talented pair has once again crafted an appealing bilingual picture book that will encourage kids ages 5 to 9 to get off the couch and get moving.

Level Up / Paso de Nivel (English and Spanish Edition)

Education & Reference

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Books by Gwendolyn Zepeda