Tina hates to visit her grandfather; it ruins her whole day. She can't possibly have anything in common with a man who has little bits of bloody tissue all over his face, bumpy knuckles and smells like green library soap. Worse than that, he eats with his fingers, water leaks out of his eyes and he speaks in Spanish!

When Tina is left alone with her grandfather for the first time, she experiences an articulate communication through their mutual love of art. Abuelito also shares his memories through tears and photographs of his marriage to her grandmother and teaches Tina how to make tortillas.

When Tina's mother returns, she tells her, "Abuelito gave me a necklace … and I can count in Spanish and… Abuelito eats with his fingers and so do I."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Janice Levy is a former ESL and Spanish teacher with a BA in Elementary Education and Masters in Spanish.

Her adult fiction has been published in the following anthologies: "If I Had My Life To Live Over," "The Time Of Our Lives," "Women At Our Core,"
"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," "Gifts Of Our Fathers," "Our Mothers, Our
Selves," and "An Intricate Weave" and was the "l998 First Place Winner in Writer's Digest Literary Short Story Contest."

Other picture books published and forthcoming: "The Spirit of Tio
Fernando," "Abuelito Goes Home," "Adventures of Filimina," "Totally
Uncool," "How The Coqui Got Its Voice," "The Man Who Lived In A Hat," and "Papa Gave Me A Stick."