Magic Windows by Carmen Lomas Garza- Set #2

Garza, C. (1999).  Magic Windows. San Francisco, CA.  Children's Book Press.

This combination of a survey style book and informational storybook  features artist Carmen Lomas Garza as she demonstrates her " Papel Picado" or cut paper artwork on each page. She says that when looking through Papel Picado, it is like looking through a magic window.  The book is a collection of her cut paper artwork but on each page, the history, background, details, and story about each piece is told in both English and Spanish.  Her collection includes cut paper of the images that are important to her.  They are images of her family, traditions, food, and plants and animals of the Mexican American culture.  The design of the book is as bright, colorful and inviting as the artwork itself.  Bright variations of southwest colors are bordered with black like looking into a window.  Titles are labeled in larger bold print to help readers pick and choose what artworks they may want to study in more depth.  This a great resource book for studying this specific type of artwork as well as expressions of Hispanic culture and heritage and about the artist herself.