Book Bundles: Windows, Mirrors

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Magdalena Mora. After a young girl's father is deported, she wishes that her teacher "knew that when I...sit alone at lunch / or cry over little things, / it's because / I miss him." Mora's warm mixed-media illustrations emphasize the girl's sadness and feeling of isolation until the focus shifts to the teacher's perspective. Thinking of her class as a whole, she "wish[es] they knew / that...they / are not / alone." And soon, they do. Sitting in a "sharing circle," the students write down worries (one child is "hungry a lot," another misses her military mom) and, if they wish, read them aloud. The sophisticated narrative structure effectively conveys the message that community can help us bear hard things. In her author's note, Kramer (The Boy and the Gorilla, rev. 3/21) shares her connection to the story.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) PS Illustrated by Zara González Hoang. "¡Hi! Soy Lucía. Bienvenidos a mi casa. I live here with my big, loud, beautiful familia." Lucía takes readers on a tour in Spanglish of her house and introduces her multi-generational Latinx family. Her narration begins at the front door ("Esta es la puerta") where her abuela waves to neighbors and her relatives enter for visits. In the kitchen, Mamá performs such milagros as ropa vieja and Abuelo prepares turkey a la española on holidays. Spanish speakers will feel welcomed by this warm family story; non-Spanish-speakers should be able to follow the story from clues in the cheerful illustrations, which stay true to the text's child's-eye perspective.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) PS Illustrated by Inés de Antuñano. Recipes by Laurel P. Jackson. "Spicy samosas point to the sky. / Didi is bringing chutney to try." Counting from one to ten dumplings, this culinary celebration visits families preparing for their town's multicultural "dumpling party." The folk art–style illustrations bring readers into bustling kitchens; the rhyming text packs a lot of cultural specificity into two lines: "Golden bourekas cool on the rack. / Saba samples the puff pastry snack." Mom makes apple dumplings, Gor gor offers stuffed wu-gok, Auntie adds fufu balls to a stew. Two pages give additional information, including a world map showing the provenance of the featured dumplings and translations of the various family members namechecked ("Gor gor: Cantonese for 'older brother'"). Hungry? The ten dumpling recipes are appended.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn