(4) K-3 Illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck. Sturdy shoes and a familiar Hispanic nursery rhyme comfort Mario as he and his father make their way, by bus and by foot, from El Salvador to the United States. Colato Laínez's text has some gaps (why is Mario's mother alone in America? is Mario an illegal immigrant?), but Broeck's use of color and shadow yields powerful visuals that convey the difficulty and danger of the trek north.

Reviewer: Sarah Novogrodsky

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck. These truly bilingual poems are packed with poignant, tender moments in the life of a Mexican immigrant child trying to fit in without losing his identity. Jorge tells of his defeats and victories in school, of prejudice and making friends. The black-and-white drawings punctuate the poems in a spare manner that lets the poetry speak for itself. Finally--bilingual poems that aren't overflowing with happy colors and tortilla chips. Glos.

Reviewer: Elena Abos Alvarez-Buiza

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck. Each afternoon Makoa's grandfather canoes out to the horizon to catch the sun in his net, enabling the torch fishers on shore "to attract fish to their spears." When another boy casts doubt on his grandfather's ability to "pull the sun from the sky," Makoa decides to "believe in things [he] cannot see." Luminous pastels, good for sharing in a group, add drama and atmosphere to the well-paced story.

Reviewer: Jennifer Polshek

(4) 4-6 Sprinkled with Jamaican dialect and local colloquialisms, conversational blank verse gives sometimes cryptic glimpses into aspects of everyday life, traditions, and relationships in the Caribbean. Minimally detailed scratchboard illustrations add little to strengthen the text. Glos.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.