Cinco historias

Five children, from five different cultures and in five different decades, grow up in the same building on the Lower East Side of New York City. This celebration of history, heritage, and the immigrant experience is now available in Spanish!

Jenny Epstein and her family arrive in New York on a steamship from Russia in the 1910s. As she settles into her new home in the tenement building above her uncle's pickle shop, Jenny writes letters in Yiddish to her grandmother while practicing her English in her new neighborhood.

By the 1930s, when Anna Cozzi and her Italian family move into the building, Jenny has become a teacher in Anna’s school. José Marte from the Dominican Republic moves in during the 1960s. Maria Torres from Puerto Rico takes up residence in the 1980s. And in the Lower East Side of today, the building is home to Wei Ye from China.

Perfect for young Spanish speakers in families with roots in other countires, this cross- section of American history celebrates the many diverse cultures that make up our nation.

Author(s): Ellen Weinstein
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 9/8/2026
Pages: 48
Binding Type: Trade Paperback
Size / Weight: 11 in H | 8.3 in W | 0.2 in T | 0.5 lb Wt
ISBN: 9780823461998


About the Author

Ellen Weinstein is the illustrator of the picture book Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity and the author/illustrator of Recipes for Good Luck: The Superstitions, Rituals, and Practices of Extraordinary People. As an illustrator, she is a regular contributor to Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, amongst many others. Seven pieces of Ellen’s work are in the Permanent Collection of the Library of Congress. Ellen is a third-generation resident of New York’s Lower East Side, where she lives with her husband and mini-dachshund, Fritzie.

Author Residence: Lower East Side, NYC, NY

Author Hometown: Lower East Side, NYC, NY