Carmela full of Wishes by Matt de la Pena illustrated by Christian Robinson

It is Carmela's Birthday. She could wish on her Birthday candles at the breakfast celebration with her mum and brother but she doesn't need to do this because her wish is coming true today anyway. She is now old enough to head off with her older brother into the town to shop and visit the laundromat. Carmela is so excited. She jingles her birthday bracelets and tries to get her brother to talk but he is not happy to have his little sister tagging along today. In the concrete outside the laundromat Carmela finds a dandelion. She starts to blow it but her brother interrupts her:

"You're supposed to make a wish. Everyone knows that."

Carmela didn't know about this. What should she wish for? Candy would be good. Her mum should be allowed to rest in one of the fancy beds at the hotel where she works. It would be so wonderful if her dad could come home. Go back now and look at the end papers where you can see migrant workers. This is where her dad is working away from the family.  Matt and Christian explain this here.

Carmela holds onto her wish flower all morning but on the way home she crashes her scooter and the dandelion is crushed. Her brother takes her hand and leads her back past all the shops to the cliff over looking the sea. He tells her to close her eyes and make a wish. When she opens them she sees hundreds of dandelion spores lifting into the sky.

"The sky was full of wishes."

There are so many reasons why I adore this book.  Here are three:

1.  The open ended conclusion
The most wonderful part of this book comes at the end. Sorry I need to restate that the best of this story is that it has no ending. Have you read Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present? We never did find out about that present.  Well it is the same here. Carmela makes a wish - but we can only guess about this wish.

2. Vocabulary
I love learning new words. In Carmen full of Wishes I found the word bodega. I had to look up the meaning even though I worked out it was a shop perhaps a small supermarket and I was right - it is a convenience store.

3. Art and illustrations
Really this perhaps should be my number one feature of this book. Christian Robinson uses collage, paint and Mexican papel picado.  If you want to try this technique with children here are some easy instructions.

Image Source Etsy Mexican Decorations

Listen to Matt de la Pena reading some his book.

Here is a video reading of the whole book.

It’s another near-perfect slice of life from a duo that has found a way to spotlight underrepresented children without forgetting that they are children first. Kirkus Star review

Another gorgeous and diverse picture book from two masters,this one belongs in every library. Waking Brain Cells