Waiting for Papá / Esperando a Papá

by Rene Colato Lainez, Anthony Accardo (Illustrator)

As Beto looks at the eight candles on his birthday cake, he knows that his wish is always the same. Beto wishes that he could be with his father every chance he gets. It has been three years since he and Mamá left El Salvador. Lurking in his mind are the memories of the losses they suffered before leaving: the bombing of a factory, the burning of the family home, the loss of all their possessions, but most of all, he thinks of the father that he has left behind.

In the United States, Mamá has found a job in a sewing factory making jeans, and they are trying to bring Papá to the United States with the help of an immigration lawyer. But this is only the beginning, and for Beto, it seems that his father cannot come fast enough.

One day in school, Beto is given the opportunity to write his father a letter. When he is invited to read his letter on RADIO Voz del Inmigrante, his heartfelt homage to home spurs a surprising chain of events that even the imaginative Beto could not have expected.

In this book, readers discover a young character whose vision and tenacity allow him to accomplish a feat that once seemed nearly impossible. Through the character’s memories of El Salvador and his classroom experiences, the reader also gains insight into the tense political ramifications of war in a country and how that war impacts its survivors. For Beto and the reader, Waiting for Papá is an educational lesson.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Spanish Literature, Latinx, Realistic Fiction, Childrens

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2004

About the author

René Colato Laínez is the Salvadoran award winning author of I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño, Waiting for Papá/ Esperando a Papá, and Playing Lotería/ El juego de la lotería. His picture books have been honored by the Latino Book Award, the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, the California Collection for Elementary Readers, the Tejas Star Book Award Selection and the New Mexico Book Award. He was named “Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read)” by latinostories.com. René is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults.

His goal as a writer is to produce good multicultural children's literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see themselves as heroes, and where they can dream and have hopes for the future. He wants to write authentic stories of Latin American children living in the United States.

Reviews

[Lizeth Matzir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waiting for Papa, written by Rene Colato Lainez, is an emotional story that showcases real issues that many immigrant families have to endure, such as separation of families. Beto and his mother had to flee from war in El Salvador, but sadly his father wasn't able to acquire a visa. Beto and his mother get help from an immigration lawyer in order to get his father the opportunity to come to the United States. During the wait, Beto decides to get his father something special in order to show how much he cares and appreciates him. After three years of waiting, Beto’s wish comes true and his father is granted a visa to come to the US allowing their family to be together once again. Many immigrants come to the US for a better living than they had in their home country, and have to make sacrifices along the way. This book raises awareness to the issue of immigration and the consequences of the long process of getting a visa. Great for young children to get insight on the lives of immigrant families and everything they have to go through. The illustrations by Anthony Accardo are very simple, yet are able to depict storyline and effectively flow with it.

[Emily Bruns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beto misses his Papa a lot. He and his mother have immigrated to the United States, but his father had to stay behind because he was not granted a Visa. Beto sees a pair of pants that he wants to buy for his father, but his mother says that they are too expensive. In school, Beto makes a father's day letter and he is chosen to read his on the radio. After that Beto's class helps him collect cans and make the money to buy the pants for his father. At the end of the book, Beto's father moves to America and the family is reunited.

This is a very important book to have in the classroom because students may have immigrated to America and had to leave family behind. This book could help students feel represented in the classroom. Another win for this book is that it is written in English and Spanish so even some students who are still learning English could read it. This could be used as a read aloud book for the primary grades and an independent reading book for the intermediate grades.

[Hannah Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells a very realistic story of a young boy who has recently immigrated to the US with his mom but is waiting for his father to get a visa to be able to join them. This story and stories like it is true for many children and students and could be used in a classroom to not only educate on this topic but be relatable for students going through the same thing.
This book would be best for younger elementary schoolers.

[Sarai Jeronimo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. This helps children understand that not everyone is fortunate enough to experience having both parents in their lives and especially children who migrate to different countries for a better life. It depicts beautifully in the pictures how a better life is hard to find but there are parents who are willing to make It happen even if that means having to be away from their children for a while.

[Hannah Cussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
2nd-4th grade
The book showed the challenges of immigration. It is a process that is complex and often separates families. I loved how the other students helped Beto! It was super sweet and they demonstrated kindness well. When Beto saw his dad again it was touching!

[Reilly Beaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is on my list because it is so intense and emotional. I love how it addresses real life issues that some students are facing. This book helped me understand a lot about a situation that I have never experienced and it gave me a new perspective.

[Hayley Chekal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I choose this book as the child is dealing with both being an immigrant and being away from their father. I feel that being away from someone's father is something that many people relate too.

[Hanna Mammo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting narrative about an Hispanic mother and children that had to move to America without their father/husband. The mother and children were awarded visas but the father unfortunately wasn't awarded one and had to be left behind. The children and mother had to adjust to America without the support of their husband/father. As a teacher I don't feel like I would use this book in my instruction for literacy because their isn't a lot of phonics examples or rhyming or even repetition that would benefit the children in their learning to read and write. I honestly don't know how the kids would interact with the story because it is a little dense and hard to understand for small children. the illustrations are nice but are not very engaging for the children to focus on. The author can relate personally to this story because he is in fact from El Salvador as the characters in the story, it was actually him and his father that came to the U.S. first before his mother. Since the author is actually from El Salvador and have had many of the experiences that were told in the story he brought a true authenticity to the story that helped the readers feel and relate to the story better. This story is another great example of how the love between parent and child is no different than any other race or culture. Even at far lengths parents still care and love their children as if they were there with them.

[Ferdye Bamaca-forkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This specific story mirrors the experiences of immigrant children, and reveals hardships as well as hope, separation and the resilience of love. When the family's home in El Salvador is burned down, five-year old Beto and his mother moved to the United States. Unfortunately his father was not able to get a visa and was left behind. Now three years later, Beto expresses his longing for his father as father's Day approaches. Although his mother works closely with an immigration lawyer to bring papa to the U.S., she makes no headway. A class project and a resultant radio broadcast finally open the door to the long awaited reunion. Beto's classmates help him raise money to buy his father a very special gift. The text written in both English and Spanish is too long to be read aloud easily, but does have an endearing quality. The pen-and -ink and watercolor illustrations are unimaginative yet simple and straight forward. This book is an adequate introduction to the many issues surrounding immigration and its impact on families. Teachers discussing concepts surrounding refugees may find this book helpful

[Jennifer Velez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waiting for Papa is a book about the experience of Beto having to leave El Salvador because of the war, and only being able to go with his mom. They had to leave his dad behind because he didn’t get his visa. Beto was very sad and missed his dad a lot; he wondered when they were going to be able to reunite. After a lot of work Beto’s father was given his visa and was able to reunite with Beto and his wife. Beto had a very special present for his dad. He picked up cans and changed them for money to buy his dad some new boots. His dad’s boots had been burned in the factory fire that made him lose his job. I think I could use this book in the classroom to ask the children to write about what they would do for their mom or dad. This would be an opportunity to encourage creative writing for the students.

[Sasha Harriott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text is a great read to venture from the many immigrant stories that focus on immigrant children yearning to fit in the classroom. El Salvador native, Beto, moved to the United States and had to leave a family member behind. Unfortunately, Beto’s dad could not get his Visa and thus was unable to make the trip with Beto. This text focuses on a boy’s love for his father and his determination to get him into the United States. Students can begin to see the different wants and needs of immigrants upon entering America, some wanting to make a better life right away and others who thought about bringing the people they left behind.

[Christian Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My heart broke in two pieces. One piece went to the United States and the other stayed with Papa." This bilingual book tells the story of a family who is separated when the parents become unemployed and a fire takes their home. They decide to move to the United States but the father is not granted a visa. The saddened child, Beto, takes it upon himself to reunite his family and bring his father home. This book uses language that children would easily be able to follow. The illustrations also aid in telling the story. The book overall is a great read for teaching about the hardships of family separations in immigration cases.

[Maria Salazar]

This story is about Beto who’s father is in El Salvador, but is working on reuniting his family. Beto misses his father so much he wants to do something special for him. This story explains how some families move to America due to terrible tragedies that occur in their homes. I really liked this book because it shows how immigration can affect children. Immigration cause families to be split apart and make their lives harder. This is a realistic fiction novel that contains realistic, convincing characters.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mama and Beto got visas for the US, but Papa didn't. He waits in El Salvador. Mama works and Beto goes to school. A letter he writes at school garners him an invitation to read it on the radio. That leads to help bringing Papa to the US.

The story is told in English and Spanish on every page.