TOMAS AND THE LIBRARY LADY is the tale of a young boy who travels with his family of migrant workers far from their home in Texas.  In Iowa, Tomas discovers the local library and the librarian who is always there with a book and a kind word. 

In the beginning, Tomas and his family are making the hot car ride from Texas to Iowa to pick vegetables for the farmers.  Tomas tells his mama “if I had a glass of cold water, I would drink it in large gulps.  I would suck the ice.  I would pour the last drops of water on my face.”  While these statements show how hot and tired Tomas is, the words themselves seem odd.  It seems more like what a nostalgic adult would say a child said than what a child would actually say.

When Tomas says, “Buenas noches”, Mora translates it right away in the text when the meaning could easily have been determined by the context clues in the next sentence.  Tomas and his brother Enrique sit to listen to a story in the oral tradition as told by Papa Grande.  When Tomas already knows the ending, Papa Grande suggests that he go to the library to get new stories.  Here again, Mora translates “En un tiempo pasado” (Once upon a time), when the meaning could have been revealed by the next words, “on a windy night…”

Tomas is nervous when he gets to the library and so counts to himself in Spanish.  Here the words are not translated, but seem to be inserted just to have Spanish words.  When a librarian invites Tomas inside for a drink of water and a book, he requests books about tigers and dinosaurs.  This choice seems very fitting for a young boy eager for adventure.  Tomas becomes immersed in the book until the library is closing and the librarian checks out two books for him in her name. 

When Tomas returns to his family, Papa Grande asks him to read aloud in English and everyone gathers around to hear.  When the family goes to the dump to look for items to salvage, Tomas finds books.  The detail Mora includes about putting the books “in the sun to bake away the smell” provides the reality of life for this migrant family.

Tomas begins to teach the library lady Spanish words when she asks.  When it is time to leave, Tomas and Papa Grande come to the library to say goodbye.  The library lady greets the man in Spanish, which is then translated a little more in context than previously, but still in an obvious way: “He had taught the library lady how to say ‘Good afternoon, sir’ in Spanish.”  The library lady gives Tomas a parting gift of a new book, which he reads and cherishes.

The soft, illustrations complement the feel-good aspect of the story.  Tomas is innocent with his cowlick, Papa Grande noble in his mustache and vest.  Mama and Papa are dressed for the hot sun with their wide-brimmed hats.  As Tomas reads the books, the pictures show him riding a dinosaur or as a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.  When Tomas reads aloud to his family, the tiger stands in the background.  These details add to the magical aspect of the story’s text.  An endnote explains that the story is based on a real man, Tomas Rivera, the late chancellor of the University of California at Riverside.  The campus library bears his name, and somewhere a librarian in Iowa is smiling.