Spotlight on “Martina Has Too Many Tías” by Emma Otheguy
If you’re looking for a beautiful, language-packed book to use in speech therapy this month, I want to highlight an author I love: Emma Otheguy. For the month of February, I’ve been focused on the theme of family, and Emma has several great books rooted in Latinx culture and family dynamics. I have the English and Spanish versions of her book, Martina Has Too Many Tías/Martina Tiene Muchas Tías, which was inspired by the Caribbean folktale, La Cucaracha Martina.
Books that center non-mainstream cultures can create powerful opportunities for connection, comprehension, and language growth in therapy sessions. I also love the rich descriptions of the island the family is from and how the story mirrors the structure of La Cucaracha Martina. Opportunities like this help activate background knowledge and connect to stories, traditions, and experiences children may already know from home and we LOVE those home-to-school connections.Also, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous! The art style is vibrant and expressive, and the story really drew me in. Martina is a girl who is preparing with her mother for the arrival of her other family members. She loves to read, create stories, and enjoys peace and quiet, but her family can be loud and bold. She looks for a companion that shares more of her preferences and, by the end of the story, discovers meaningful ways to connect and share with her tías. This is a sweet story that feels very relatable — I definitely identified with Martina as a quiet girl, wanting to weave some flowers and read quietly in the corner at a party.
From a speech and language perspective, this story offers multiple entry points for targeting communication goals across age groups and ability levels. The book has great descriptions of characters, their likes/dislikes and preferences, along with vivid depictions of movement and emotion. This creates lots of rich avenues for language and speech therapy. I also love that this book is available in English (with a couple of Spanish words) and Spanish.
Some of the language opportunities naturally embedded in the story include:
Describing characters and comparing preferences
Discussing emotions and perspective-taking
Sequencing story events
Expanding expressive language through narrative retell
Supporting bilingual vocabulary and cultural connection
This is a book I have added to my family unit. I especially love using literature like this during family themes because it supports identity, representation, and celebrating our heritage and culture. If you are interested in this book, we have it linked in our Amazon storefront - and it is also available on Barnes & Noble and other retailers.
In my next post, I’ll walk through an example of a multi-session therapy arc using this book with my students, including practical activity ideas and supports you can use right away. I’ll also be sharing free companion resources to help you implement these activities in your own sessions. Stay tuned!
