(2) K-3 Illustrated by Eliza Kinkz. Young Jesús eagerly awaits Saturdays, when he helps his father with their family's­ lawn service business. Papá gives him the responsibility of taking care of the water jug, claiming that it is a magical clock and when the water runs out, it's time to go home. Hilarity ensues when Jesús doles out cups of water to three "super-old" thirsty cats, a dog in a sweater, and some peacocks, and uses lots of water to splash his face. The jug may now be empty, but Jesús and Papá can't yet go home: it's only ten thirty in the morning, and they still have eleven more houses to visit. Papá confesses that the water jug is not a magical clock after all; he had tried to make the day go more quickly by making the jug into a game. But as Jesús tells Papá, they can have fun in other ways. The protagonist's exuberance shines through in his observations of the world. Kinkz's art--in "pencil, ink, watercolor, gouache, crayons, and a few drops of queso"--brings this story to life. The colors are bright; the line drawings are childlike and full of zany energy. The garden-themed luchador endpapers will garner lots of laughs. This book mixes humor with the touching bond between a son and his papá, and a gentle message­ about the preciousness of water as a resource.

Reviewer: Yesica Hurd | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023