The Rainbow Tulip by Pat Mora by Stephanie Lewis

I was first introduced to this book and this author last year at a teaching fellows event in which Pat Mora came and shared about her books. I bought this book originally for its beautiful pictures but now after reading it several times I have really come to love it. It starts out with a little girl sitting at the kitchen table in the morning explaining a little bit about her family. From the very beginning she tell us that her mother and father are from Mexico and that they don't speak English. Throughout the book the little girl uses spanish words and phrases in her conversations with her mother. She tells the reader that she speaks English outside of the house but inside she speaks Spanish. At school everyone calls her Stella but at home she is called Estelita. Stella also points out the differences between her mother and the other mothers of the neighborhood due to cultural differences. Her mother wears very dull and quiet colors but Stella wants to have brightly colored dresses when she grows up. At school the teacher tells the students that they will be participating in a May parade and the teacher has told the students that they need a tulip costume. When Stella's mother asks what color tulip she would like to be Stella tells her mother that she wants her costume to have all the spring colors on it. Stella is so excited about her costume but when she arrives at school wearing her costume she realizes that she does not look like the other children. All the other children are wearing solid colored tulip costumes. Stella was afraid that the teacher would laugh at her and she was afraid of looking different. When Stella sees her mother to watch her march around the Maypole Stella wishes that her mother could speak English like all the other moms and that she dressed like and wore makeup like all the other moms. Stella ends up doing a great job with the Maypole dance and her teacher comes to tell her a great job. Stella then wishes that her teacher could speak Spanish so that she could tell her mother how well she did in school. Stella then sits down with her mother and tells her that "it is hard to be different".
I really love this book because it has so many multicultural teaching opportunities. In the classroom it could be used to open a discussion on different cultures and the differences that students may have. It can also be a way to get hispanic students excited about sharing their culture since it does include Spanish words and phrases. I think that it would be great to get the hispanic students to say the words correctly for the rest of the class and to tell them what that word means. This type of book could also be used to create a more comfortable classroom community. By opening discussion about differences amongst students then teachers could go on to discuss acceptance of these differences leading to a more open and community-like environment in which students work together. Stella can also be used to talk about differences that may not be just cultural. Stella looks different than all the other tulips in her class. She could be used to start a discussion on accepting others despite of physical differences or learning differences. I think that this book is just absolutely great all around! The teaching opportunities are infinite and the pictures and story are awesome!