A Movie in My Pillow: Una pelicula en mi almohada

poems/poemas by Jorge Argueta 
and illustrations/illustraciones by Elizabeth Gomez
©2001. San Francisco, California. Childrens Book Press/Libros Para Ninos.

No Lexile Measure Found
Picture Book. Bilingual. Diverse Protagonist.

A Movie in My Pillow: Una pelicula en mi almohada gives us a glimpse into the childhood of Jorge Argueta and what it was like to come to America as a child during a time of war in his home country of El Salvador. Jorge's poems piece together to tell the story of his experiences, including the changes that he faced, the relationship with his father, and the feeling of having his family back together again.

I would give this book a 30/32. The book shoes diverse characters, and more importantly, the achievements of those characters. The illustrations are beautiful and representative of the authors culture. The social messages are very positive and affirming for children, and I think that this book would be especially positive for those who are moving to America from another country. The language is appropriate, and the book is very culturally relevant, as there are children coming to America seeking refuge and they could relate to this book about coming to America from another country. The author is definitely very knowledgeable on this topic as well, because this is an autobiography told through poems. The story line and character development are the only sections that got 3 points based on the rubric. This is because the story line has to be sort of pieced together because it is written in poems. And I also just felt as though there wasn't a lot of character development throughout the story, though there definitely was some. Still a fantastic book that would be a great addition to any classroom or household. I would recommend this book for 1 through 5 grade, or for anyone who is learning Spanish as well!

Literary elements in this book:

Text to match meaning: There is one poem called Yo-yo, where the words of the poem follow the stings of the yo-yo and zig-zag around the page.

Poetry: Evaluate the poetry and the structures of the poems that Argueta wrote for this book. Also, consider how he wrote a story using poems. 

Figurative Language: There as metaphors and personification. For example, you can find personification in the poem The Best Guide in Town, 
"Little city trains
that go in and out 
of the open mouths 
of mountains"

or metaphors in My Grandma's Stories
"Mitas stories 
are old

like the mountains"

For a mini lesson on metaphors, use this book to show children examples of metaphors, and then have students look for other metaphors as they are reading. Students may want to create a collection of metaphors they can find, or they may want to come up with some of their own.

Social Justice Theme: Immigration