A Maleta Full of Treasures / La Maleta de Tesoros

Share this book

After reading A Maleta Full of Treasures, get students thinking about what they might pack in their own bag with a round of the “I Packed My Suitcase” memory game. With everyone sitting in a circle, have one student start with “I packed my bag/suitcase/maleta and in it I put…” The next student repeats the phrase and what the first student packed, and what they would pack. Continue around the circle until you return to the student who first started packing.

After the game, encourage students to think about the kinds of items Abuela chose to pack in her maleta for Dulce. How did these gifts represent Abuela’s life in Peru and help connect Dulce to her culture and family origins? Then, have students pack their own maleta full of treasures that tell their own stories. What things would they pack that hold favorite memories and represent who they are and where they come from. Students can create a cardboard maleta from a cereal box to hold their things or pictures that they draw of those items or students can draw an outline of a suitcase filling it with drawings of meaningful items that represent them, their culture, and identity.

Questions for Discussion or Reflective Writing

1. What family member do you have a close relationship with, like Dulce does with Abuela? What objects, smells, words, and feelings do you associate with that family member?
2. How does Dulce find ways to feel connected to her Peruvian culture and the family members that live in Peru without physically being there?
3. How does Abuela’s maleta full of treasures make Dulce feel closer to both her grandmother and the cultural background they share?
4. How would visiting her abuela in Peru in the future allow Dulce to connect with her family and heritage in a different way than she has been able to before?
5. What does Abuela’s final gift show about their relationship and the love they share?

Related Resources

Activity Pages for A Maleta Full of Treasures from Dial Books for Young Readers 
I Packed My Suitcase from the Good Play Guide
Cereal box suitcase craft from Seussville