Young Chuy García longs to join his father, who has left Mexico in search of a better life for his family in the United States. To save money for the trip north, Chuy convinces his father’s former employer at the local muffler shop to hire him to do odds and ends. There, Chuy learns something new about his father: he is the artist who made the Muffler Man, a metal statue that stands in front of the shop inviting customers inside.
Once in the United States with his father, though, Chuy is surprised to find that life is more difficult than expected. Inspired by his father’s art, the tin figures fashioned together out of scrap metal pieces found scattered about the shop, Chuy helps his father find a way to prosper in their new homeland.
Muffler Man/El hombre mofle celebrates a unique form of Latino folk art, and the role it plays in the life of a young boy who won’t take no for an answer. This story for readers aged 3 to 7 inspires the dreamer in us all.
Finalist, Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award
“The folksy prose with its gently delivered message is extended by eye-catching artwork.”
—School Library Journal
TITO CAMPOS is a teacher and administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is also an instructor in the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. Campos received his M.Ed. and B.A. from California State University, Los Angeles.
LAMBERTO ÁLVAREZ and BETO ALVAREZ, father and son, teamed up to create the artwork for Muffler Man. They are both part of the illustration staff of The Dallas Morning News, in Dallas, Texas, Lamberto as Director of Illustration and Beto as a News Illustrator. Beto has collaborated in many other illustrative projects in the family business, Solare Design Group, Inc., an art, photography, and design firm based in Fort Worth,Texas. Lamberto lives in Fort Worth with his family while Beto resides in Dallas.
Accelerated Reader Quiz #53984
ATOS English: 4.2
ATOS Spanish: 4.2
ATOS Interest Level: Lower Grades
