Sandra Cisneros fell in love with books before she knew how to read.
Growing up in Chicago, Cisneros was one of seven children in a family that didn’t have much money and didn’t have many books at home. But her mother was a voracious reader and made sure her children had library cards.
Cisneros' older brother Kiki took her to the library when she was in first grade.
One of the first books they checked out was The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. They loved it so much they checked it out again and again.
As a child, Cisneros couldn’t have explained why the story mattered so much. But she knew there was something about that eponymous house. And she was hooked. As an adult, she understood: The little house offered something she and her siblings desperately wanted — a sense of permanence and safety.
That’s the power of what literacy scholar Rudine Sims Bishop famously called “mirror books”: stories that reflect something of our own lives, experiences and identities back to us.
Cisneros found mirrors in many of the books she read as a child.
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House was one of the most important books of Cisneros’ childhood.
The story follows a little house in the country that watches the world change around it. The house longs to see the city but eventually becomes surrounded by it. For Cisneros, the story offered something more personal: the promise of a home that would remain.
Her family moved frequently, sometimes traveling to Mexico and leaving their belongings with relatives. “We were always moving,” she said.
The little house gave Cisneros and her brother a vision of stability. Its permanence was comforting to two children who didn’t have a permanent home of their own.
Cisneros still owns the book and considers it deeply spiritual.
The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward
Cisneros also saw her family in The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, written by DuBose Heyward and illustrated by Marjorie Flack.
The book tells the story of a country bunny raising a large family while trying to prove she can become one of the Easter Bunny’s helpers. Cisneros recognized the overwhelmed mother in the story.
Her own mother was raising seven children while her father worked two jobs. The book’s little mother bunny — despite all the challenges she faces — finds a way to succeed.
For Cisneros, that was important. As a young girl who sometimes felt frightened and overwhelmed, she found courage in the bunny’s ability to overcome adversity.
The book also gave her something else: hope that there could be “magic” in her own life.
“And it came true,” Cisneros said. “I did have magic in my life.”
She eventually bought copies of the book for her grandnieces.
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Another childhood favorite was Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field, about an antique wooden doll who lives through generations of American history.
But Cisneros now reads the book differently.
She points out that its portrayal of Indigenous people reflects a colonial perspective that she finds troubling. As an adult, she stopped reading the book when she reached that section.
For Cisneros, the book is a reminder that even beloved stories need to be examined in context — and that a book that once felt like a mirror can look very different as we grow and our understanding changes.
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Cisneros remains a devoted reader of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales.
She especially recommends an edition translated by Tiina Nunnally, whom Cisneros contacted after being impressed by her translations. Cisneros says the stories have a power that can be lost in older, indirect translations.
"The Ugly Duckling" was particularly meaningful to her as a child. She remembers feeling “ugly and unwanted” and disparaged at school because she was poor.
As an adult, she continues to return to Andersen’s stories, including "The Snow Queen." She believes adults need fairy tales, too — especially stories that offer courage, direction and hope.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Cisneros’ copy of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was the first book she owned.
She bought it for 50 cents at the Sears bargain basement, using her allowance. Her family had never visited a bookstore, so owning a book was a remarkable thing.
Then she accidentally spilled perfume all over it.
The pages became wrinkled and smelled like the inexpensive perfume she had spilled. Instead of ruining the book, the accident became part of its memory.
For Cisneros, the book represents the joy of finally having something that belonged entirely to her.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
One of Cisneros’ more recent mirror books is Last Stop on Market Street, written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson.
The story follows a boy and his grandmother as they ride a bus and learn about generosity, poverty and what really matters.
Cisneros was moved by the book when she finally read it several years after de la Peña gave her a copy. She wrote him a fan letter, telling him how much she loved it and that she wished she had written it herself.
His response surprised her: He told Cisneros that he had been inspired by her book The House on Mango Street when he wrote his own book.
For Cisneros, the moment illustrated something larger about the power of stories. A book that once served as a mirror for one writer can become a source of inspiration for another.
Books as mirrors ... and seeds
Cisneros learned to read, in part, by listening to her older brother read aloud and memorizing the pages of books she loved.
She remembers sitting with her siblings in the backyard, following along as her brother deciphered the words. The pictures filled in what they couldn't yet read. The experience made her curious about language and eager to understand what those marks on the page meant.
And she credits her mother for planting those seeds.
Her mother made sure her children had library cards. She took them to museums. She modeled a love of books and art even when the family had little money.
“When you're that little,” Cisneros says, “you need a mom to plant seeds in you and to water those seeds.”
Those seeds grew into a life as a writer — and into books that have become mirrors for countless other readers.
Now 71, Cisneros still looks to books for that feeling of recognition and transformation. She says she wants to read books that can “transform and heal and change” her, leaving her a better person.
Her story is a reminder that family literacy isn't only about teaching children how to read. It's also about creating a culture around reading — giving children access to books, letting them see adults read, reading together and, perhaps most importantly, helping them find stories that say: I see you. You belong here.
Read more about Sandra Cisneros here.
The "Mirror Books" podcast series is part of a Texas Public Radio project examining family literacy as a potential solution to San Antonio’s literacy challenges. Through the experiences of families, educators and local organizations, the reporting examines effective interventions, barriers to access and a closer look at programs showing promise for improving literacy outcomes across generations. Learn more at tpr.org/literacy
Support for the family literacy series comes from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.
