TITO'S COCONUT TREE

A little crab and his family face a challenge after a severe storm in Bankson’s picture book.

A young crab named Tito lives in a house with his mom and dad. Tito is round, red, big-eyed, and wears a baseball cap. His parents are larger versions of Tito, and their home under a towering coconut tree is a thatch-roofed, wooden beach house. Inside, Dad’s fishhooks decorate a wall, Tito builds a sand castle on the floor, and Mom sits on the couch and reads. The cozy setup gives way to disaster, however, when a powerful storm destroys both tree and house, forcing the crab family to find safety inside an old turtle shell. There, the author effectively shifts Tito’s perspective from mourning what he’s lost to appreciating what home really means: family. (What’s missing: a final page reassuring Tito—and sensitive readers—that the crab family will rebuild their home.) The author sets up Tito’s idyllic life with deft, rhyming strokes (“Deep in the jungle, / on a beach by the sea /…lives a little crab clan / below a coconut tree”) in tandem with Arab’s appealing illustrations, featuring rich, saturated colors, bold shapes, and a cartoony style. The fully illustrated pages effectively alternate with images set against white space showing close-ups of facial expressions.

Strong visual appeal bolsters a child-friendly message about finding comfort after adversity.