CHAVELA AND THE MAGIC BUBBLE

Chavela’s joy is to chew all kind of gums. She loves blowing bubbles in different shapes and colors. One day, Chavela and her grandmother find a special gum at a small store in Market Street: Magic Chicle. When Chavela gets home, she chews her magic gum and, taking a deep breath, blows an enormous bubble that lifts her from the floor and carries her through the sky from the mountains of California and over the Southwest to her Abuelita’s town, Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Chavela alights in a rainforest where the chicleros are making the magic gum from the sapodilla tree. It’s a lovely, child-friendly tale that will entertain the little ones as well as exposing them to both ecological and cultural themes. The text and book design make it an excellent selection for storytime. Unfortunately, Morales (A Piñata in a Pine Tree, 2009, etc.) repeats the same facial features, clothing style and range of colors used in her prior works, generalizing the story’s pleasing geographical specificity. (Picture book. 4-6)