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¡FIESTA!

A CELEBRATION OF LATINO FESTIVALS

Using the months of the year in Spanish and English as a structure, this engaging survey introduces holidays from all over Latin America, many of which are not found in other books. Some may rightly quibble with the designation “Latino” for the Haitian holiday described in July, but the book’s strengths compensate. Each double-page spread features Barragán’s stunning cut-paper illustrations, which dance across the pages in different ways, sometimes just at the top half, bisecting each page, sometimes cascading down across the text. A brief poem is on the left, short explanations of such festivals as Cinco de Mayo, Día de Los Santos Innocentes and the pre-Columbian Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) in Peru are on the right. A longer and more meaningful description of each holiday with its country of celebration is at the back and must be read to fully understand the significance of the customs alluded to in the main part of the text. Although there is a Spanish pronunciation guide for the months, there is no bibliography or resources for further reading. (Nonfiction. 6-10)

Pub Date: April 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-87483-861-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little Folk/August House

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009

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WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT FREEDOM

A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few...

Shamir offers an investigation of the foundations of freedoms in the United States via its founding documents, as well as movements and individuals who had great impacts on shaping and reshaping those institutions.

The opening pages of this picture book get off to a wobbly start with comments such as “You know that feeling you get…when you see a wide open field that you can run through without worrying about traffic or cars? That’s freedom.” But as the book progresses, Shamir slowly steadies the craft toward that wide-open field of freedom. She notes the many obvious-to-us-now exclusivities that the founding political documents embodied—that the entitled, white, male authors did not extend freedom to enslaved African-Americans, Native Americans, and women—and encourages readers to learn to exercise vigilance and foresight. The gradual inclusion of these left-behind people paints a modestly rosy picture of their circumstances today, and the text seems to give up on explaining how Native Americans continue to be left behind. Still, a vital part of what makes freedom daunting is its constant motion, and that is ably expressed. Numerous boxed tidbits give substance to the bigger political picture. Who were the abolitionists and the suffragists, what were the Montgomery bus boycott and the “Uprising of 20,000”? Faulkner’s artwork conveys settings and emotions quite well, and his drawing of Ruby Bridges is about as darling as it gets. A helpful timeline and bibliography appear as endnotes.

A reasonably solid grounding in constitutional rights, their flexibility, lacunae, and hard-won corrections, despite a few misfires. (Informational picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: May 2, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-54728-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017

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GINGERBREAD BABY

In a snowbound Swiss village, Matti figures it’s a good day to make a gingerbread man. He and his mother mix a batch of gingerbread and tuck it in the oven, but Matti is too impatient to wait ten minutes without peeking. When he opens the door, out pops a gingerbread baby, taunting the familiar refrain, “Catch me if you can.” The brash imp races all over the village, teasing animals and tweaking the noses of the citizenry, until there is a fair crowd on his heels intent on giving him a drubbing. Always he remains just out of reach as he races over the winterscape, beautifully rendered with elegant countryside and architectural details by Brett. All the while, Matti is busy back home, building a gingerbread house to entice the nervy cookie to safe harbor. It works, too, and Matti is able to spirit the gingerbread baby away from the mob. The mischief-maker may be a brat, but the gingerbread cookie is also the agent of good cheer, and Brett allows that spirit to run free on these pages. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-399-23444-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

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