TORTILLAS AND LULLABIES/TORTILLAS Y CANCIONCITAS

In a companion to Cherry Pies and Lullabies (see review, above) Reiser infuses the often mundane actions of daily life with a sense of tradition and great love in a vibrantly illustrated, bilingual picture book that captures the rhythms of life. Told from the perspective of a young girl, the story opens with her great-grandmother making tortillas for the girl's grandmother, then moves through each successive generation to the present day, as the child makes tortillas for her doll. Gathering flowers, washing clothes, and singing lullabies are the other commonplace occurrences exalted by the mantras, which always conclude, ""Every time it was the same, but different."" Placing the English text at top of every page and the corresponding Spanish text at the bottom creates a unique border for the lush, colorful illustrations, created by a consortium of Costa Rican women known as the ""Valiant Hearts."" The bright, richly detailed pictures are almost overwhelming as they draw readers' eyes into the lives portrayed. Elements within each picture identify the era--one dress is washed in a stream, another in a washing machine--and provide children with something of a searching game for details that demonstrate the passing of time. In both books, simple phrases and gentle repetition convey the enduring nature of love and the reassuring continuity of life.