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
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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