PAPÁ AND ME

Dynamic, energetic, larger-than-life swirls of color vividly celebrate the loving relationship between a young Latino boy and his Papá. Father and son spend a day together, speaking Spanish and English, making breakfast pancakes and playing in the park. They hold hands and the father swings his son up into the sky. They race and tell each other stories and finally ride the bus to the grandparents’ house, where father, son and grandparents embrace in warm curves crowned by a heart radiating golden light. Gutierrez covers each page in rich color, adding surrealistic background elements that include the sun, clouds, raindrops and an eagle. The child tells the story simply, “ ‘Mira, look,’ I tell him. / A bird is up there. / ‘Águila.’ Eagle, Papá tells me. / He says my eyes see things he can’t see.” The exuberant art and simple text convey the dreamlike perfect happiness of a young boy’s joyous day with his beloved Papá. (Picture book. 3-8)