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Soderguit, Alfredo

The Capybaras

48 pp. | Greystone Kids/Aldana Libros | April, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-77164-782-3 $22.95 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-77164-783-0 $18.95
(2) K-3 Translated by Elisa Amado. "That was a safe, agreeable place." So begins the tale of a poultry farm upended by the arrival of a group of capybaras (escapees from hunting season), but astute readers will notice that the narrative does not tell the whole story. The chickens may be "comfortable and everyone knew what she was supposed to do," but we see the farmer (shown only from the shoulders down) carrying off the occasional hen who is likely to become supper. When the capybaras arrive, looking a bit stunned and definitely out of place, their "hairy...wet...too big" bodies sharply contrasting with the delicate, light shapes of the poultry, the hens announce a set of rules: "don't make any noise," "don't come near the food," and, worst of all, "don't question the rules." Happily, it doesn't take long for a tiny chick and the smallest capybara, in a series of wordless panels, to make friends. In short order, the capybaras and the hens learn to live together, safe from dogs and farmers, and when hunting season ends and the capybaras prepare to head home to their waterways, the hens decide to join the capybaras in a life of freedom. A final wordless page gives a glimpse of a future when the capybaras and now-free-range hens befriend neighboring sheep. The understated narration pairs brilliantly with the simple but expressive illustrations. Soderguit draws in shades of black on cream paper with accents of red to tell a gentle but subversive story of a community of animals coming together to survive. Read this one with Martin Waddell's Farmer Duck for International Workers' Day.
Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

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