Pedrito’s World

“Pedro is very poor.” “Yes, I can tell by the clothes he wears.” I was mad because somehow the way they were whispering, it sounded like being poor was something very terrible. Meet six-year-old Pedrito, who lives on a South Texas farm with his mother, father, and younger sister. The year is 1941, and except for a trip to the big city of San Antonio, five hours away, Pedrito’s life is the farm and the school he attends in a village a few miles away. Pedrito’s father has the papers he needs to work legally in the United States, but that doesn’t stop the Border Patrol from harassing him and his son. Pedrito speaks only Spanish and is frightened on his first day of school when he learns that he must speak English. Luckily his teacher, Miss García, is patient with her students, and soon Pedrito is sharing his new English words with his family. Pedrito also relates his opinion of outhouses vs. indoor plumbing and tells of a happy Easter decorating cascarones. Pedrito’s World is a wonderful window on the lives and culture of a Mexican family living and working in South Texas. Arturo O. Martínez based Pedrito’s World on his own South Texas childhood. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.