A nicely done bilingual tale about a little boy who misses his grandfather. Little Diego lives in Texas, but Pap† Diego remains across the border in Mexico. When his father gives him some old Superman comics to look at, Dieguito gets an idea: If he had a Superman suit he could fly across the border to see Pap† Diego every day. He asks for one for his birthday, but the suit doesn’t perform as expected. Bitterly disappointed, Dieguito thinks he’s having an awful birthday until a surprise visit from Pap† Diego gives him exactly what he’s been wishing for. Parallel columns of text tell the story in English and in Spanish, accompanied by innovative illustrations, originally modeled with clay, then painted with acrylics and photographed. Reminiscent of Mexican folk art, they fit the story especially well, conveying its warmth and poignancy; geometric clay borders and small figurines on text pages complete the package. (Picture book. 6-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-938317-33-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
Soup and pasta, that is. The preparation of the two dinners forms the structure for this loose little treatment in which 12-year-old Rosie works out her changing relationship with Bailey, the proverbial boy-next-door. The reader meets Rosie and her Granny as they slice and chop, Granny’s penetrating questions and stories of her youth leading narrator Rosie to reflect in short vignettes on her lifelong friendship and on her current pre-adolescent difficulties. The scenario is repeated the following week, only now Bailey himself becomes part of the cooking crew, clearly benefiting as much from Granny’s well-timed pauses as Rosie. Rosie’s present-tense voice is fresh and young, with an ingenuous turn of phrase. The structure mitigates significant plot development, however: readers are presented with a situation—Bailey and Rosie redefine their childhood friendship—which is resolved ever-so-neatly, thanks to Granny’s remarkably parallel stories and a few pinches of garlic. Full of good humor and aromatic seasonings, this offering nevertheless may not stick to the ribs. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-029290-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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