LILIANA, LA IGUANA

A charming, illustrated Spanish-language children’s book about the escapades of an adventurous iguana.

The story of Liliana the iguana is simple: She lives near the beach and makes friends as she goes on various fun adventures. She meets and plays with more and more characters—a frog, a wasp, a chameleon—as they create new games, like playing with an apple or going in the sea. It’s a familiar story but a comforting one. The simple plot structure and eye-catching, beautiful illustrations make for an enjoyable read. The artwork is made from several mediums, including penciled illustrations, paint, colorful paper cutouts and computer graphics. The artist juxtaposes complex, striking hand-drawn and painted images with simpler, childlike drawings in illustrations that often show the magic and beauty of a child’s imaginative mind. Rhyme and alliteration are used often, the combination of which produces a lovely, songlike effect, perfect for reading aloud to young children. Additionally, for educational effect, the text includes certain words—i.e., diversion or intention—most young children won’t know. In a welcome change of pace, the conclusion turns the reading into an interactive experience that features exciting activity instructions, including how to make puppets that look like the characters in the story. In a pleasant detail for the puppet-making process, the book even provides paper stock that’s similar to the character designs in the narrative. The book also teaches children how to play a fun game that the friends play in the story.

A colorful, well-designed adventure suitable for children with various levels of Spanish comprehension or even a bilingual educational setting.