Muffler Man / El hombre mofle (Pinata Bilingual Picture Books)

For the García family, leftovers provide the feast. Battered tin, pieces of metal, and scraps in a muffler shop inspire a young man and his family to believe in the American Dream.

Young Chuy García longs to join his father, who has left Meico in search of a better life for his family in the United States. To save money for his trip north, Chuy convinces his father's former employer and local muffler shop to hire him to do odds and ends. There, Chuy learns something new about his father: he is the artist who made the Mufler Man, a metal statue that stands in front of the shop inviting costumers inside.

Once in the United States with his father, though, Chuy is surprised to find that life is more difficult than expected. Inspired by his father's art, the tin figures fashioned together out of scarp metal pieces found scattered about the shop, Chuy helps his father find a way to prosper in the new homeland.

Muffle Man / El hombre mofle celebrates a unique form of Latino folk art, and the role it plays in the life of a young boy who won't take no for an answer. This story for readers aged 3 to 7 inspires the dreamer in us all.