Module 3 - YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO! AMERICA'S SPROUTINGS by Pat Mora

Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 2007. YUM! MMMM! QUE RICO! AMERICA'S SPROUTINGS. Ill. Rafael Lopez. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc. ISBN 1584302712

Plot Summary
Pat Mora provides 14 delicious haiku poems about foods that are native to North, Central and South Americas.  Mora includes information concerning each foods origin and history in the Americas, as well as, fun facts for each.  Blueberries, tomatoes, peanuts, and pineapple are just a few of the yummy contents of this part informational, part poetry collection.

Critical Analysis
Pat Mora's haiku poems are cute and fun to read; they focus on the taste and uses of each food.  Mora includes informational paragraphs about each food that explain where the food is natively grown, which people and cultures planted and cultivated it, and some fun facts about each.  She includes information about how each food was used traditionally and how we use and celebrate them in modern times.  While the haiku's are written in a medium-sized, fun font, the informational paragraphs are typed in a very small font that could be very easily overlooked and might not appeal to young children.

Rafael Lopez's boldly-colored acrylic on wooden panel illustrations express the cultures of the Americas as they pertain to each food in humorous, engaging way.  The people in the drawings have dark skin and hair in varying grades of color.  Their surroundings are mostly tropical, jungle, and desert with huts, adobe, and a few stucco homes.  Some of the clothing shown appears to be native, traditional, and some modern.  One one page a boy is shown with a Conga drum, another shows tortillas being made, a farmer's truck waits in the background of one page, while a pineapple man shakes two maracas. 

Review Excerpts
School Library Journal: "The sense of whimsy is further underscored in López's colorful acrylic on wood-panel illustrations. Artful compositions and brilliant complementary colors bear out the book's multicultural themes."

Book Links: "Mora's descriptive poetry features wonderful word choices and gets it right to the essence of each food...Perfect for sharing as part of the curriculum or just for fun."

Connections
Mora, Pat. 2009. BOOK FIESTA!: CELEBRATE CHILDREN'S DAY/BOOK DAY. Ill. Rafael Lopez. New York: NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 10-0061288772

Mora, Pat. 2008. LET'S EAT! A COMER! Ill. Maribel Suarez. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 10-0060850388