What Can You Do With a Rebozo?

I’ve never had much experience with reading diverse or multi-cultural picture books, so I decided to pick one out for this week. I picked out the book What Can You Do With a Rebozo? written by Carmen Tafolla. The illustrations on the cover immediately caught my eye, like the rest of the pages. The illustrator, Amy Cordova, uses some kind of oil paint to make her bright and very unique illustrations. She makes it look like the pictures are painted on canvas, and it almost has a 3-D look to it.
In addition to the wonderful pictures, the story line is great as well. Basically, the main character (a little Mexican girl) talks about all the different uses this Rebozo can be used for, including a cozy cradle for her baby brother, hair decoration, making a secret tunnel, a flying cape, etc. The little girl uses her imagination when playing with the Rebozo. At the end of the story, the author has a page “About Rebozos” where she explains that for centuries, women in Mexico have used this Mexican shawl for anything from “dressing up for a party to carrying firewood”. I think it’s great to read books with people from different cultures to students so that they can learn about important traditions and tools from different cultures.