PICTURE BOOKS
Leiner, Katherine

Mama Does the Mambo

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. This heartbreaking story about loss is cleverly dressed as an ode to dancing. Sofia laments that when Papa died, her mother stopped dancing: "sometimes, I thought I missed Mama's dancing more than I missed Papa." Leiner's great achievement is how much she manages to say without words, and the story's resolution is at once bittersweet and exultant. The mixed-media artwork vividly conveys the flavors, textures, and hues of Havana.

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