Immigrant Architect: Rafael Guastavino and the American Dream

K-Gr 4–Told in first-person narration, the authors chronicle the professional lives of Spanish architects Rafael Guastavino and his son, Rafael Guastavino Expósito Jr. Beginning with the elder Guastavino’s birth in 1842, readers follow the father and son across the Atlantic, grow up with the younger Guastavino, and experience both the struggles and successes of being an immigrant in America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Lorente’s gorgeous illustrations include frequent time lines, informative diagrams, and emotive scenes. While highly stylized with a tight color palette, the illustrations are true to both the creations of father and son (the younger carries on the elder’s legacy after his death) and will inspire further research. de Miguel and Diebolt skillfully use the narrative of the Guastavinos’ work to highlight the United States’ historical legacy of depending on and benefiting from immigrant knowledge, talent, and labor. A note about our current president having descended from “poor European immigrants” will not go unnoticed by adult readers. Read this as a picture book, to spark discussion, or use it to expand options for biography assignments in elementary schools. There’s great potential in this story.