Muy Loco Lucasito

Lucas and His Loco Beans

Written by Ramona Moreno Winner

Illustrated by Nicole Velasquez

Brainstorm 3000, 2002, 2003 & 2005

30 pages

Fiction/Multicultural

            While at the Jacksonville Public Library, I asked for the multicultural books and they pointed me in the direction of a wonderful collection.  That’s where I found this book.  The book is about a little boy named Lucas who goes to spend the summer with his Abuelo who lives in New Mexico.  His Abuelo is from Mexico and has a ton to teach Lucas.  On this adventure Lucas’s Abuelo shows him the Mexican Jumping Bean.  They are not actually beans but a moth in the seed of a plant that grows in Mexico and out west.  Lucas learns a lot from his Abuelo that summer.  This book is written in both Spanish and English, so grab this book and a child and read away, you will both learn a lot.

            The realistic illustrations are done chalk and are very prominent on the page.  The artist went into detail to draw the life cycle of the bean and the diagrams in the book.  I enjoyed the illustrations of this book as much as the story.  The use of blue, red and brown makes this book feel warm and inviting.  I was out west three years ago and this book reminded me very much of my time in New Mexico.  

            This book would be good for kindergarten through sixth grade.  This book gives a wonderful account of a moth that lives off a plant and what happens if they do not have that plant.  This book will be good for a science lesson about plants and moths.  It works well for a social studies lesson on culture and language, too.  It would also tie in well with a geography lesson on Mexico and the US as well as a history lesson.  At this time this book has won no awards.