QUINITO, DAY AND NIGHT / QUINITO, DÍA Y NOCHE

Quinito—of Quinito’s Neighborhood (2005)—returns with a plethora of opposites as he escorts readers through his family’s bilingual activities with Mami, Papi, little sister Clara and brother Juan. Readers learn his parents/padres have long hair/pelo largo, he has short hair/pelo corto, and hermanita Clara has almost no hair/casi no tiene pelo. While Quinito, Juan and Clara are young/jovenes, Grandpa and Grandma are old/son viejos. Some are neat/ordenado and some are messy/desordenado. Bold, bright double-page gouaches on textured canvas illustrate this cocoa-skinned Latino family inside and outside their home playing, working, reading, eating and finally retiring after a typical day. A dual text of English above an equally matched Spanish version will have preschoolers relating to the familiarity of Quinito’s day and night activities, while children in a bilingual environment will appreciate the opposing features of each in two familiar languages. A glossary of bilingual terms summarizes all contrasting concepts. (Picture book. 3-6)