A delightful Cuban-inflected retelling of a classic folktale.
A selfish cat whom readers will love to hate swallows anyone who questions her behavior.
The trouble starts when Pepe the parrot attempts to woo Carina Felina with home-baked Cuban crackers and coffee. When the cat devours the crackers, leaving only one for Pepe, the outraged parrot demands an explanation. “I do what I like and I eat what I wish,” Carina replies with what will become the book’s refrain. “Step out of my way, or be my next dish!” After Pepe declares he is not afraid of her, she swallows him and proceeds to roam the Caribbean town, gobbling whomever she pleases and growing larger with every meal until a pair of land crabs hatch a plan to save their friends. Carina’s escalating audacity will have children eagerly turning the pages to find out whom the cat will eat next and when someone will put an end to her rampage. Each encounter introduces an italicized Spanish word, immediately defined, and by the end, Carina’s belly is full of people and animals children can name in Spanish and English. The colorful illustrations provide sufficient detail to stimulate the imagination without overwhelming and include enough nods to typical characteristics of a Hispanic Caribbean town to make the setting familiar to readers from such a background. Human characters are brown-skinned. In the backmatter, Deedy explains that many cultures around the world have their own version of the story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful Cuban-inflected retelling of a classic folktale. (glossary of Spanish words with pronunciations, recipe for galletas cubanas) (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781338749168
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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