Illustrations using papel picado, or cut-paper art, demonstrate what Lomas Garza’s words say to young readers about her Mexican American heritage. Readers find out about her work as an artist through the subjects she chose to interpret here, from turkeys and cacti to dancing and Day of the Dead to a stunning visual tribute to her gardening grandfather. Lomas Garza’s pride in her Aztec roots and birth family inform the artistry and experience she brought to the creation of the papel picado reproduced in this slim bilingual volume. Information about papel picado in which cutting must be literally connected and examples of this exacting medium are contained here. This book about culture and art differs greatly from the paintings in her earlier autobiographical books Family Pictures / Cuadros de familia (1990) and In My Family / En mi familia (1996) also published by Children’s Book Press. (Ages 9-12)

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Winner, Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

Bilingual English/Spanish. Through the magic windows of her cut-paper art, Carmen shows us her family, her life as an artist, and the legends of her Aztec past.

We look into Carmen's studio and see her paint a Mexican jarabe tapatío dancer; we glimpse the hummingbirds that cross the US-Mexico border to taste the sweet nectar of the cactus flowers; and we watch Carmen teach her nieces and nephews how to make their own magic windows.

Magic Windows is a continuing tribute to family and community as well as a way for Carmen to connect future generations to their ancestors by teaching and sharing with them this traditional folk art.