THE ROWDY ROWDY RANCH/ALLÁ EN EL RANCHO GRANDE

Brammer’s nostalgic tale, a grown-up’s remembrance of a boyhood trip to his grandparents’ ranch, zeroes in on the excitement of encountering an unknown place for the first time and of enjoying a family reunion full of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Family stories—of buying the ranch “for a song,” of eggs that gently roll down from the chickens’ nests in a tree—are recounted with a nod and a wink, and the celebratory atmosphere of the barbecue supper and impromptu “jam session” of the men is warm and full of relaxed, summer happiness. Cruz’s full-page, full-color illustrations face the text, with English above and Spanish below. The illustrations combine an almost photographic detail with an appealingly naïf depth perception which makes some parts of the scene feel three-dimensional, while others are more typical. Likely to be especially useful in studies of family and rural life, as well as in comparisons of the ways in which students’ families resemble and differ from Tito’s large, expressive Latino family. (Picture book. 1-4)