A week before her sixth birthday, Marisa’s mother takes her to pick out a piñata. Trouble is, Marisa grows so accustomed to the beautiful butterfly—admiring it on her dresser, including it at her tea party, and taking it to the playground, among other things—that she can’t bring herself to break it apart on the day of the party. In her debut work for children, Dominguez casts English and Spanish text side-by-side to create a pleasing bilingual tale. Marked by corresponding blue and orange stars, careful readers can compare the words in the two languages. Describing the party, for example, Dominguez writes: “Soon the smell of food filled the air. There were tamales, rice, beans, and crispy buñuelos.” On the next page: “Pronto el aire se llenó con el olor de la comida. Había tamales, arroz, frijoles y buñuelos crujientes.” Similarly, English and Spanish words are repeated within the text (“Hello, friend! ¡Hola, amiga!” and “Happy birthday! ¡Feliz cumpleaños!”). Paterson’s (All Kinds of Children, not reviewed, etc.) expressive watercolors, similar in style to Bruce Degan’s Magic School Bus illustrations, picture the parent’s solution: a candy- and toy-filled garbage bag decorated with a smiley face and the words “Hit me, please!” replaces Marisa’s prized piñata. While the storyline isn’t especially inspired, the translation serves as an engaging counterpoint, making this a solid addition to multicultural and ESL collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8075-6495-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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