Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle is a gorgeous picturebook. The full page water color illustrations draw you right in and are so evocative of Arletis's life in Cuba. The text is on the longer side for a picturebook, so better for older preschoolers and up. The story follows Arletis's discovery of a message in a bottle from a retired tugboat driver named Steve who lives on a houseboat in Sausalito and how their friendship forms as they become penpals. I got goosebumps reading the author's note at the end that this is a true story! The author includes details and photos about the real Arletis and Stephen, as well as her own trip to Cuba to meet Arletis and her family. The backmatter also includes a recipe for cascos de toronja - candied grapefruit pith! There is also a reading, viewing, and listening list to learn more about contemporary people and life in Cuba.

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I loved this story, that is a true story about a message in a bottle. The two writers found each other through a message in a bottle, sent to the sea, and found family and friends they never expected.

Arletis, girl, lived on an alligator shaped island. She was fond of knowing exotic places and love to knew about maps in relevance to it.

Once she found a bottle floating to her island shore with a paper having message written on it. Message is from Steve, that reads, "If you find this bottle, please write and tell me about your world". Steve is a voyager and himself waiting for the revert to his message in the bottle sent.

Arletis started waiting for the revert herself after sending back the reply to Steve. Steve, then, send his photograph and realizing that Steve is of her Grandpa's age, Arletis wrote him back by addressing, 'Querido Abuelo Esteban', means, 'Dear Grandfather, Steve'. And hence, such way messages exchanged and finally one day Steve came to met Arletis and her family. Ün regalo", a gift, is what Steve said by unrolling a rolled sheet of paper to her that was showing the map and marking on it about the path which that message containing bottle travelled. He went on to spend 5 days with her.

Overall, This was so good to read and reminded me of 'Message in a Bottle' a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Such a heart warming story! Reminds me of the old story Message in a Bottle when I was young. The illustrations are beautiful too. Makes a perfect bedtime story or for older children, just a great story to read anytime!
Thank you NetGalley

Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle by Lea Aschkenas is such a precious story and very heartwarming.

A true story and so well done with the artwork. The story is told so beautifully.

I love this artwork by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. From the book cover on it made this adorable story come alive. An absolutely inspiring story that has at the end the real Artletis and a photo of her and more to the text. :)

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review Artetis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle by Lea Aschkenas.

What a wonderful book! Thanks to that embargo that the author explains in the afterward, I know very little about Cuba, and this was a wonderful introduction for small children (and their adults!) to another part of the world that is rarely seen in media. Based on a true story, Arletis found a message in a bottle on the Cuban shore when she was a child and began a life-long friendship with the Californian man who had written it. With gorgeous illustrations and a smattering of Spanish words to learn along the way, there was so much to learn from this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the oppurtunity to read this.It is a nice story about friendship with great illustration

Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle is a children’s story written by Lea Aschkenas and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu.

Summary: Arletis wonders what it’s like beyond the shores of her island. When she finds a message in a bottle, she immediately responds with a letter of her own. That begins a correspondence that changes her life forever.

My Thoughts: This was a very interesting story-made more so by the fact that it is based off something that actually happened!

I love how one message and a little curiosity led to such a beautiful friendship that has spanned the decades.

This is a wonderful story, the illustrations are beautiful, and I really enjoyed it.

I would like to thank Star Bright Books for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!

An IRL message in a bootleg story! This is sweet and friendly story of a Cuban child meeting an American pen-pal and their ensuing friendship. Not much can be covered in the short book, but the author seems to be describing how restlessness can be a sign of good things to come and never stop hoping.
There are a lot of descriptions of fruits and flowers. Would be a great read for anyone interested in maps, traveling, pen-pals, Latin American food and culture.

Absolutely in love with the art in this book, it was the perfect combination of whimsy and realistic, with soft but engaging colors. I also loved the end of book resources, this book could easily be used to write a whole curriculum. I was a bit concerned with the age demographic, adults who pick this up should be well aware that this is for an older audience if the book is to be enjoyed to its full potential!

This adorable book would be worth buying solely for the beautiful illustrations by Cornelius van Wright and Ying Hwa Hu. But it’s an uplifting story told with grace and based on a true if remarkable incident. Arletis, a young child in rural Cuba, finds a message in a bottle in a language she doesn’t even understand. But she writes to the author, who it turns out was asking whoever found the bottle to do just that——write and tell him of life in another place.

The author of the note is a lonely retired sailor who lives on a tug in northern California. Thus begins a story of cultural exchange between a child, her family and an elder from another culture. Lea’s descriptions are as vivid as Van Wright and Hu’s illustrations. This is a book that it would be a privilege to share with a child. It’s made of dreams and friendship. I highly recommend it.

Have you ever heard of the message in a bottle ? Well this is a fun and exciting book about that story when a young girl finds a message in a bottle and decides to write a letter back and she if someone finds it. This is a well written children book and would make a great read out loud or bedtime story. I would recommend this children’s book thank you netgalley

A story about a girl and an older stranger who connect over a message in a bottle. A cute story with pretty illustrations.

<i> Thank you to NetGalley and Star Bright Books for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!</i>

This is a lovely story about a girl who lives in Cuba and dreams about knowing other places and cultures.
Her dream comes true when she finds a message in a bottle, from an old man who dreams about sailing the world. They establish a beautiful pen pall relationship and become friends until today.

I loved that this book is based on a true story and shares little pieces of Cuban culture, such a the Cascos the toranja recipe. The drawings are beautiful and perfectly complement the story.

Arletis still hasn’t visit US which serves as a reminder of the impacts of the US embargo.

I recommend this book to children with more than 6 years. It can be a great support to explain different cultures, different political views and regimes and its impacts on its citizens.

A lovely, warming book, about a girl with dreams of a world bigger than the one street that's home to her family, her grandma and her school, in a tiny village on the SW corner of Cuba. As a treat she gets taken to the seaside some distance away, and finds a message in a bottle – a request for contact from a lonely middle-aged chap living on a boat in a marina in California. She writes to the address given, he writes back, and clearly a lovely friendship forms, because this is a true story, and despite it being rather illegal, the real mariner has gone to visit the real young woman three times now.

This then is a request for better US-Cuban relations, and a demand that we never stop wanting to see over the next hill, or to learn about life on the next island. But it's also very happy about the street it's set on, with life laden with bounteous fruits, love, music and more. The people are gorgeous, the weather is perfect, the situation fine – but for that inquisitive need we pesky humans have to reach out to other people. Perhaps guilty of showing too much of the picture-book, fairy-tale Cuba, this from a neutral standpoint at least is very enjoyable.

Thank you, Star Bright Books, for the advance reading copy.

The book is so well illustrated! The story is so endearing as it tells the story of a little girl who lived in an island at the middle of the sea. She loved dreaming about places she wanted to explore. So started a special connection through a message in a bottle between two strangers and we would read an amazing story about friendship and a whole new world!

So well done.