Friends from the Other Side By Gloria Anzaldua

This controversial book has a unique approach to incorporating another culture and language more then any of the other diversity picture books I have read. The cover has an image of a young girl standing with her arms crossed. Her face looks like she is staring off into the distance. She is standing near a tree and wildlife that is looking in the same direction as the young girl. The background is mainly yellow colored and the title is written in purple. I believe it shows intention is placed on the individual more then the title because of the small font. The end papers are of a solid bright blue color that matches the blue jeans of the girl on the cover. The illustrations are colored in colored pencil, which makes it very informal because there are a lot of white spaces between each colored line. I think that the illustrator did this one purpose because it makes it more "kid friendly" and one could think that it was written by the young girl that is a main character in the book. I liked how the English and Spanish was separated into two different paragraphs, but it makes me wonder if it draws attention to a literal separation between the two countries. I think that it is important to have the Spanish in the book because it allows for those students who do not speak English to read the book and to be able to have a connection to the characters. If I were to use this book in my classroom, I would tie it into a lesson of history and immigration rules. I think that all students would benefit on what it means to be an American citizen and what immigrants have to go through to become a legal citizen as well.