RADIO MAN/DON RADIO
by Arthur Dorros & illustrated by Arthur Dorros & translated by Sandra Marulanda Dorros
As Diego travels with his family looking for work—picking melons near Phoenix, cherries in California, apples in the Northwest—he tunes in to local stations, Spanish, English, or both; that's why his friend David, whom he hasn't seen since they picked cabbages on the Texas border, calls him ``Radio Man.'' When Diego relays a message through a call-in show in Washington, David hears it and they meet again. Dorros's colorful, simply drawn illustrations have a pleasing naivetÇ and include some nice details—Mama, glimpsed in the rearview mirror, dozing on an all- night drive; an owl nesting in a saguaro cactus while the family listens to ``the Night Owl'' on ``KKTS, Cactus radio.'' Both the Spanish and English texts here incorporate context-defined words from the other language, in the natural manner of those becoming more fluent. An upbeat but largely realistic picture of migrant life—and an entertaining boost to bilingualism. (Picture book. 4-8)