Tomas and the Library Lady
Mora, Pat. Illus. by Raul Colon. 1997. Tomas and the Library Lady. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
ISBN: 0375803491. Ages 4–8
This story about Tomas is based on a true incident that occurred in the early life of educator and chancellor of UC Riverside: Tomas Rivera (Rivera died In 1984). This book is about a love for stories and life; combining the world of fantasy and books with Tomas’s experiences on the road and in the library.
As part of a family of migrant workers, Tomas is on the road with his family as they travel from job to job. They get to one particular job and settle in temporarily.
Tomas goes to town, peeks in the window of the library and finds himself invited inside by the librarian. She asked him about what he might like to read and found some books for him. Tomas loses himself in those books for the rest of the day, and when he has to leave, the library lady lets him check out books to take with him.
That evening instead of Papa Grande telling the stories, he asked Tomas to read the stories in English. As Tomas read, everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to Tomas read and act out the stories.
