Dichos de Mi Madre Makes an Hierloom Gift

A few months ago, Latin Baby received a lovely sample of a gift book by Victoria Killeen called Dichos de mi Madre. I thought it was beautiful and it brought to my mind some poignant memories of my 'buelita who was such a happy soul and always imparting her wisdom with a smile. And since we will be celebrating Grandparent’s Day this month, I decided to add the book to our "Gifts for Abuelita" section. This would be a wonderful heirloom gift that could be passed down in the family. In fact, I have decided that within the next couple of days, I will be adding a gift basket, too, (which will include this little book, an abuelita T-shirt and a mirror) for those of you looking for an extra-special gift for the abuelita in your life.

Here is an excerpt from a book review of Dichos de mi Madre that I did for the Latin Baby Book Club...

"Written completely in Spanish, the book is a collection of "sayings" or "dichos" that often are quoted to us by our mamás or our abuelitas. Some of the verses have English equivalents, such as "A caballo regalado no se le miran los dientes" which translates to "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" and "El amor es ciego" which means "Love is blind."
But some are uniquely original to Latin America such as "Gallo que no canta algo tiene en la garganta" which is one I distinctly remember my great-grandmother saying. It means "a rooster that doesn’t sing has something in his throat" – HA! And even better, "Échate en la cama y verás quién the ama" meaning "Throw yourself on the bed and you’ll see who loves you" gasp – MAMÁ!
I also like "Hombre casado, ni frito ni asado," which means "don’t bother with a married man, not even if he’s fried nor grilled."
There are SO MANY dichos in this book it is hard to pick out so few. I have to say that Victoria did a great job collecting them all. She is to be commended for all the effort that I am sure it took to remember and write them all down. She dedicates the book to her mother and is donating all the proceeds to charity in honor of her beloved mother.
Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Victoria completed her studies here in the States, and graduated with degrees in interior design and art history. After getting married, she moved to Atlanta where she and her husband became very involved in the arts community. They are founding members of the High Museum and Victoria has been on the board for many years. Thanks to her husband’s job, she has had the opportunity to travel to almost 100 countries which has made Victoria very aware of in the importance of culture and traditions and the pride that people take in theirs. She wrote Dichos as a way to celebrate both our Latino culture and our mothers who have taught them to us.
If you would like your copy of this wonderful little book, click here. Remember that it makes a wonderful regalito!"