(3) K-3 Illustrated by Manuel Monroy. Chepito asks his neighbors why they are doing what they're doing. Their answers--digging weeds to help corn grow; feeding chickens so they will lay eggs; milking a cow to give Chepito's family milk--subtly reveal the connection between food and the environment in the rural community. Monroy's illustrations, created digitally from colored-pencil drawings and watercolors, have a delightfully simple, unhurried look. Glos.

Reviewer: Siena Leslie

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Manuel Monroy. Chepito doesn't want to go to school. He encounters various people in his neighborhood, all of whom are reading. His repeated query, "Why, why, why?" (which grows a little tiresome) elicits different responses that demonstrate the reasons reading and education are so important. Warm-hued pictures illustrate Chepito's quest toward knowledge and enlightenment.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) 4-6 Translated by Sean Higgins. Illustrated by Manuel Monroy. Poems by Pablo Neruda. In anecdotes full of joie d'esprit, Chilean writer Poli Délano recounts childhood experiences during the time he and his diplomat parents lived with Nobel Prize–winning poet Pablo Neruda in Mexico. One of Neruda's poems follows each chapter, but the poems are too sophisticated for the book's audience. While this memoir is full of charming and candid detail, it's best suited to those already familiar with Neruda's work.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(1) PS Translated by Elisa Amado. Illustrated by Manuel Monroy. The cycle from dawn to dawn is beautifully realized in Monroy's midnight blues and earthy browns and golds and in three lyrical sentences, in both Spanish and English. The Spanish text gets primary billing, with the English translation printed in smaller type. The book's small size invites one-on-one sharing, but the boldly rendered art suggests additional use for toddler story hours.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2004