WOW Review: Volume XVII, Issue 1 • Page 3 of 12 • Worlds of Words

A Crown for Corina
Written by Laekan Zea Kemp
Illustrated by Elisa Chavarri
Little, Brown and Company, 2023, 36 pp (unpaged)
ISBN: 9780759556843

A young girl named Corina ready for her birthday celebration by joining her Abuela in the garden to make a beautiful corona for her special day. She runs through the garden, taking in the beautiful colors and smells and picking flowers that connect to memories of her family. As Corina weaves her crown together with flowers representing her family, her Abuela reminds her that she must also select flowers to tell the story of who she wants to be. When she touches the completed crown on her head, she remembers her story, her mother’s story, and her Abuela’s story. Corina is excited to share her story through the flowers on her crown as people arrive for the party. Throughout the night she is so excited that she does not want to take off her beautiful corona even when some of the flowers wilt and fall off. Abuela tells Corina the reason the flowers are falling and dying is because they cannot survive out of the soil, and neither can families that are far from home. Abuela reminds Corina that she will always have only one family and should stay close to them. She will always have more crowns, but just one family. As Corina removes the crown from her head, she is not sad, but excited to know she will have more chances for her dreams to bloom.

A Crown for Corina is a picturebook that celebrates family, tradition, and self-discovery through the lens of Corina, a young Latina girl. The narrative is centered around the family tradition of preparing a flower crown to celebrate Corina’s birthday, with each flower representing a cherished memory. This journey through the pages is one of self-discovery where Corina learns about her family’s culture and values. The story focuses on Corina and her immediate family and their experiences, though it does not dive deeply into the stories of her ancestors or other aspects of their lives. The symbolism of the flowers do touch on family history. The story is kept light and focuses on Corina’s personal growth.

This picturebook does a marvelous job of using vibrant colors to bring Corina’s story to life. The flowers are bright yellow, blue, red, orange, and purple, reflecting the joyous celebration in the narrative. The details of the flowers and crowns symbolize the richness of Corina’s heritage. The design of the illustrations complements the text and helps draw readers into her story. The text brings to life the sensory experience of walking through a vibrant garden. Textures, smells and sounds are described as Corina selects and picks each flower for her crown.

A Crown for Corina represents diversity within Latinx culture. Their representation in the story shows various skin tones and hair styles that are part of Latinx community. The book also intertwines Spanish words and celebrations that add to the authenticity of the narrative. Although other cultures are not represented, the story of family ties and connection is universal.

One possible book pair with A Crown for Corina is Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal (2018). Both narratives explore themes of family history and self-identity. By the end of both stories, the main characters have a deeper connection to their ancestors and are ready for the next chapter in their lives. Titles that explore this theme in other cultures include Auntie Luce’s Talking Paintings from Haiti (Francie Latour & Ken Daley, 2018) and My Grandma’s Photos from Turkey (Ozge Bahar Sunar, Senta Urgan, & Amy Marie Spangler, 2022).

Laekan Zea Kemp is an award-winning author who has written several books, among them Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet (2021) for which she won a Pura Belpré Honor. She was an ESL teacher before becoming a full-time writer exploring identity, mental health, and Mexican/Chicane culture. She currently lives in Austin, Texas. She states that she has three objectives when writing books: “to make people laugh, cry, and crave Mexican food.” More information can be found on her website, which includes photos of her wearing flower coronas.

Elisa Chavarri is a talented illustrator known for her vibrant work in children’s literature. Originally from Lima, Peru, she calls Michigan home. She has published over twenty books and is recognized with awards and honors including a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book 2021 for Sharuko (Monica Brown, 2021) and an Américas Book Award Commended Title for Rainbow Weaver (Linda Elovitz Marshall, 2016). More information can be found on her website.

Tammy Owens, Texas Woman’s University

Authors retain copyright over the vignettes published in this journal and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the following Creative Commons License: