Saturday, April 28, 2007

here it comes around again

The theme for the next Carnival of Children's Literature is fiesta!, which is awesome because I actually have a fiesta book in my TBR pile. It also brings to mind this book:




Te Amo, Bebe, Little One by Lisa Wheeler. Illustrated by Maribel Suarez. Little, Brown, $15.95

A young Hispanic mother and her new baby go through his first year together, sharing good times in every season. And always, the mother sings her baby's special song: "I love you once, I love you twice. I love you more than beans and rice. I love you more than stars or sun. Te amo, bebe, little one." With its smattering of Spanish words and a Southwestern setting, this book feels a bit like multiculturalism-lite, but that doesn't make it any less appealing. The rhyming text uses a very readable rhythm, and the light watercolor illustrations are easy on the eye. A favorite with our family. (1-3)

And don't forget this one:




Pinata! written and illustrated by Rebecca Emberley. Little, Brown, 2004 (0-316-17412-2) $14.95.

Emberley has created many bilingual books but she's probably never had such a perfect subject matter for her mixed media collage illustrations. Her rainbow striped pinata practically bursts from the page and most of the goodies that go inside look tantalizingly tangible. Text in English and Spanish describes the different fun things that go inside the pinata; a short history, instructions for making the pinata and a little quiz on the names of the items are also included. (3-6)