MARGARET AND MARGARITA/MARGARITA Y MARGARET
by Lynn Reiser & illustrated by Lynn Reiser
On the left, Margaret (carrying toy rabbit Susan) and her mother come to the park, though the child protests that ``There is no one to play with''; on the right are Margarita, her mother, and a cat named Susana holding the identical conversation—in Spanish. They meet, and while the mothers (assuming that their language difference is a barrier) sit facing outward on the same bench, the little girls gesture, converse, and play with their toys, each picking up a few words of the other's language and parting as friends—with the mothers now smiling at each other. Constructed with unusual imagination and care, a bilingual story that makes a perfect first bridge from either language to the other, with simple but expressive art that will help define the words for new readers. (Picture book. 3-8)