ABUELITO EATS WITH HIS FINGERS is the story of a girl who is uncomfortable around her grandfather, who speaks only Spanish and has ways strange to her.  When Cristina’s mother leaves her alone with Abuelito, she begins to see the value of his ways and his love.

ABUELITO is a story that flows.  It seems as if Levy is telling us a personal story, which indeed she may be judging from the author’s note.  The voice in the book is Cristina’s and is presented in a way that is believable for a young girl.  She is wary of Abuelito at first, even a little mean in the way that children are when she says, “I don’t like to look at him,” and goes on to describe what she sees as wrong with him.  The way he keeps his house, including the santos and holy candles, are “spooky” to her.  When Cristina mentions her friend Hope’s grandfather, who “has a swimming pool in his living room.  He owns a red Corvette,” the reader begins to see what Abuelito is up against.  This seems to be what Cristina wants her abuelo to be instead. 

When her mother leaves, Cristina and Abuelito connect over her abuelita’s pearls, and memories of her.  There is a moment when Cristina sees the pain Abuelito feels at the loss of her abuela.  Abuelito introduces Cristina to los santos and leads her in a prayer.  When they get hungry, Abuelito shows Cristina how to make tortillas and eat them with queso and salsa. By the end of the story, Cristina realizes that her abuelo loves her, and she begins to see him as he is and less as he looks through others’ critical eyes.

The Spanish words in ABUELITO EATS WITH HIS FINGERS are presented in a way that blend in naturally with the text.  They are mostly in dialogue, and set off by italics.  For the most part, the words are defined contextually, so the reader naturally understands their meaning without being told specifically.  This presentation allows the story to unfold without artificiality.  Readers are given a sense of Abuelito’s culture by his religious artifacts, his language, and his food.  It is also revealed that Abuelito once cut sugar cane with his “bumpy” knuckles and “rough fingers.”

The illustrations join with the story seamlessly.  They add depth and warmth to the images from the text.  The first picture of Abuelito with toilet paper on his cut shows his warmth even as Cristina criticizes in the text.  Throughout the illustrations, the colorful walls and burning candles in the background add to the authenticity of the story.  The reader feels the joy as Cristina tries on the pearls and the sadness when Abuelito is shown with his face in his hands, wedding ring still on his finger.  On one double page spread, as Abuelito and Cristina look down on their drawings, the reader sees a similarity in the chanklas they wear on their feet: Abuelito’s big flip-flops, Cristina’s small pink ones.  Each page of text has a small detail illustration showing an item such as a banana, sugar cane, a candle, the cat, and chalk.  This is just one more element that makes the believable as well as memorable.