F IS FOR FIESTA

The team that brought readers Oh, No, Gotta Go! (2003), with its seamless weaving of Spanish into English and its richly colored illustrations featuring big heads and little bodies, returns with a birthday story in the form of an alphabet book. The strictures of the form almost necessarily rein in the wild invention of the earlier offering, but Elya’s latest is still far more fluid and vibrant than most alphabet titles. Employing the Spanish alphabet, with “extra” letters ch, ll, ñ and rr, and expanding her verses to accommodate additional narrative elements, Elya covers both the preparations for the party and the party itself, with its distinctly Latino flavor. The Spanish is mostly confined to the alphabet words that are explained by context, a glossary that precedes the story and the illustrations. Karas employs flat backgrounds, upon which the characters move and the toys, furnishings and food are highlighted. Seen simply as a birthday story, this is fluid and appealing, but not essential. As an alphabet book incorporating the Spanish language and Latino culture, however, it shines. (Picture book. 2-7)