SMALL NAP, LITTLE DREAM

Four youngsters romp and frolic in the woods with their forest friends.

They jump and climb; they clap and laugh. The entire day is filled with an energetic exploration of the fanciful world around them. Running with squirrels and dancing with rabbits has never been so much fun. After reading a few good books, it’s time for a nap. With the welcome respite come little dreams—sueñitos. Rainbows, smiling stars, and friendly clouds surround the happily dreaming children. Wakefulness brings a joyful resumption of their carefree play in anticipation of more sweet dreams. Aikens-Nuñez’s declarative four-word “me” statements call attention to each specific action of the characters: “Look at me RUN.” Spanish vocabulary, signaled with boldface, is immediately introduced in paired mixed-language sentences: “Mis pies go fast.” The pattern is not consistently maintained, however, and language transitions can be awkward: “Look, I’m AWAKE! / Mi cuerpo rested!” The glossary preceding the story includes Anglicized phonetic pronunciations of the Spanish words used. These unfortunately render some vowel combinations phonologically as hiatuses when instead they should be diphthongs: “Pee-EHR-nahs” instead of “pyehr-nahs” (legs), and “see-EHS-tah” instead of “syehs-tah” (nap). Colombo’s whimsical illustrations feature a diverse crew of children (two White-presenting, one Black-presenting, and one with olive skin and long, black braids) in snuggly attire for a cool fall day, but the foliage does not indicate autumn. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A slight, uneven, well-intentioned contribution.