I HELP

A little one lends a hand.

A brown-skinned child pours water from a canteen into a flying disc, which a dog uses as a water bowl. “I see a dog. I help,” says the child as the dog eagerly laps up the water. This interaction repeats itself with slightly altered phrasing when the child shares water with a postal worker (“I help a man”) and then with some feathered friends (“I help birds”) before a neighbor helps the young narrator replenish the now empty canteen. At one point, the child even uses the empty canteen as a percussion instrument to help a band playing in a park. This early reader’s thoughtfully controlled vocabulary makes it accessible to the newest of new readers. Throughout, Cepeda’s energetic, warm depictions of the characters provide context clues to help emerging readers. As is characteristic of his style, Cepeda’s use of gouache provides visual texture and a sense of vitality and dimensionality to the figures, while linework lends movement to the scenes. Back at home, the child helps a sibling, seen earlier, fill a pitcher with water, and the two make lemonade that they serve to a long line of people: “We help.” People throughout the community are racially diverse.

Helpful!