I Love Saturdays y domingos

Shaun Steiner’s Blog

I Love Saturdays y Domingos

by Alma Flor Ada

Illustrated by Elivia Savadier 

Published by Atheneum, 2002
32 pages
ISBN: 0-689-31819-7

Ages 4 - 8

A young girl spends Saturdays with her English-speaking grandparents and los domingos (Sundays) with her Spanish-speaking grandparents, and each household offers love and support. On Saturdays she has scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast, watches the fish in her grandpa's aquarium, and listens to her grandmother tell stories about her grandmother coming to California in a covered wagon. On Sundays, she has huevos rancheros for breakfast, sits on the pier with her abuelo, and listens to her abuelita talk about her Native American grandmother. The story concludes with the entire family coming together for the narrator's seventh birthday party. Spanish words and phrases are naturally woven into a gentle story of a bi-cultural/bilingual child.

The Genre of this short story is Narrative..

Motivational Activities

1. I would have the children write 2 or 3 sentences telling me how they feel when they get together with their entire family.
2. Discussion Questions:

• How was the main character diverse?
• Where did the main character come from? Why did the main character have breakfast in different areas on Saturday and Sunday?
• How would you react if you were invited to come have breakfast with both families in this story? What would you say to him?

• Personal Comment:
1. I really enjoyed reading this book because it shows how children of bi-cultural families sometimes blend their customs. The children will see that people have unique customs and often eat different foods because of this.

2. The book is good for children who are not exposed to many other cultures.

• About Alma Flor Ada
• Alma Flor Ada was born in Camagüey, Cuba on January 3, 1938 to Modesto Ada Rey and Alma Lafuente.^[3] She grew up in La Quinta Simoni,^[3] a house owned by the family of Cuban revolutionary Ignacio Agramonte.^[3] Born into a family of storytellers, poets, and educators,^[4] she grew up hearing traditional tales re-told by her grandmother, father, and uncle. At the age of 15, she traded aquinceañera party for summer school in the United States, thus beginning her life as a bilingual person.^[5][6] After completing high school in Cuba, she earned a scholarship to attend Loretto Heights College. There she first encountered discrimination against Mexican-Americans,^[5] a discovery inspirational to her diversity appreciation efforts. After a year at Barry College in Miami,^[3] she earned a Diploma de Estudios Hispanos with an Excellency Award at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.^[5] She completed her PhD at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.^[7] She was awarded a Fulbright Scholars Exchange Grant and appointed aRadcliffe Institute scholar at Harvard University^[8] and prepared her dissertation for publication, Pedro Salinas: El diálogo creador.^[9] In 1970, she and her four children relocated permanently to the United States.^[1] She currently resides in Marin County, California and has 9 grandchildren.^[3] Ada credits her children as a powerful influence in her writing,^[1]stating, "One of my greatest joys is that my daughter collaborates with me".^[3] Recently, Ada co-authored two books with her youngest son, Gabriel Zubizarreta

• Other books by Alma Flor Ada.
1. Brown Girl Dreaming
2. Feathers

References
Ada, A. F., & Savadier, E. (2002). I love Saturdays y domingos. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.