Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation
Illustrator
Leslie Staub
Publisher
Dial Books
Publication Year
2015
ISBN
9780525428091
Pages
32 pages
Genre
realism
Format
picture book
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
When Saya's mother is sent to jail as an illegal immigrant, she sends her daughter a cassette tape with a song and a bedtime story, which inspires Saya to write a story of her own -- one that just might bring her mother home.
Grade Level
K-3
Lexile Measure
NC890L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Culture/Ethnicity; Incarceration; Immigrants and refugees; mother in prison; prison; visitor's day; immigrant family; undocumented immigrant; immigrant mother; family separation
Main Character
female child
Race/Ethnicities
Latinx (Haitian American)
Family Formation
mother and father
Awards
Charlotte Zolotow Award, 2016, Highly Commended
Cybils Awards, 2015, Nominee, Fiction Picture Book
Jane Addams Children's Book Award, 2016, Honor, Younger Readers
20 Years of Dia, 2016 K-Grade 2
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2016 Ages 5 to 9
Best of the Best Books, 2015 Picture Book
Choices, 2016 Picture Books for School-Age Children
Core Collection: Picture-Book Refugee and Immigration Stories, 2017
CSMCL Best Books, 2015 Children's Literature
Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2015
New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, 2015 Picture Book
Keywords
nightingale; recording; story; interview; reporter; judge; trial; release; reunion
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Danticat, Edwidge, "Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation" (2015). Diverse Families. 1686.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1686