Dona Flor
Presented by LaCrisha Woods EDEL 411 Section B
A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart
Mora, P. (2005). Dona flor. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Information About the Book
Author: Pat Mora
Illustrator: Raul Colon
Topic/Theme:
- Mexican American culture
- Being different makes you special.
- It's good to help friends solve problems.
Genre:
- folklore
- Picture book
- Multicultural literature
- Children
Awards:
- The Golden Kite Award
- Pura Belpre Award Book for Illustrations
- Pura Belpre Award Book for Narrative
- ALA Notable Books, American Library Association
- Nick Jr. Magazine Best Book
- New York Public Library Books for Reading and Sharing
About the Author
Pat Mora was born in El Paso, Texas. She believes Hispanic perspectives are vital for literary heritage including children's literature and juvenile poetry. A former educator, university administrator, museum director, and consultant, Pat is a well-known nation-wide orator who promotes creativity, inclusivity and bookjoy. She has three grown children and one granddaughter. Pat is married to an anthropology professor, Vern Scarborough. They now live in Santa Fe, NM. Find out more about Pat at her website, linked below.
Website: Patmora.com
Illustration from the Book
The illustrations are done on watercolor paper and combine watercolor washes, etching, and the use of colored pencils and litho pencils. This illustration comes from the first page of the story. The picture is a beautiful representation of the main character, Dona Flor as she stands over mountains.
Illustrator
Raul Colon was born in New York City in December of 1952. Raul believes his childhood sickness of Asthma kept him inside and was a blessing in disguise. All the time he spent locked up inside, he spent mastering his talent.
Did you Know?
Colon is an award-winning illustrator of over thirty books for children including "Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops" by Jill Biden. Find out more by clicking the "About the Illustrator" link above.
Criteria for High Quality Muliticultural Literature
1. This book contains illustrations that reflect accurate the cultural setting. The characters replicate natural appearances of hispanic people without stereotypes. The dress of the characters was accurately illustrated and appropriate for the setting and multicultural group. The spanish hat (sombrero) is often shown in many illustrations. Also, the scarf that Dona wears is traditional hispanic dress. The illustrations contain houses, mountains and settings unique to the puebla and hispanic villages.
2.This book honors and celebrates diversity as well as common bonds in humanity.
In the book, Dona Flor is made fun of because she is abnormally big and could speak every language, including animal talk. Soon, those same children needed Dona for a ride to school. The book teaches the audience that everyone is different, but has a job or place in the world. Even though Dona was abnormal, she needed sleep, a bed for rest and most of all needed love and acceptance from her peers.
3. This book is rich in cultural details, as well as dual-language. The book is seasoned with spanish words and phrases that are appropriately placed into the literature. "Mi casa es su casa" is a common term used by flor to welcome all the people, animals and plants to her house. Flor also wakes every morning to make homemade tortillas for all of her friends. A tortilla is a traditional bread unique to the hispanic culture. This book serves as a great guide for learning spanish vocabulary.
Dona Flor's Lesson Idea
Grade level: 2nd
Common Core standard: RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Objective:
- The students will be able to write about what they learned from the reading and how it relates to their life.
- The students will be able to use details from the text to explain the moral of the story.
lesson plan summary
After reading the book, teacher will facilitate think, pair, share discussion groups with the class.
Guided questions:
- How are you alike/different from Dona Flor?
- How are you alike/different from the Pumito, cat?
- Which character are you most like and why? (cite specifics from book)
- What did you learn from the book?
- What part of the story was your favorite and why?
The teacher will then ask students to write about what they think the moral of the story is and how it relates to their lives. The teacher will ask students to use details from the text as evidence to support their writing. Students will then be asked to draw a picture illustrating what they wrote in their paragraph.