(2) YA This engaging graphic memoir depicts Suggs's formative experiences visiting family members in Mexico City and their rancho in the state of Querétaro. At home in Texas, Crís, who has a Mexican mother and a white American father, is assumed by others to be white and non-Latine. But with Mexican family, Crís (who now uses they/them pronouns) perceives being othered because of their limited Spanish and a skin tone that is lighter than that of relatives. During the trip, Crís develops a more mature understanding of their culture, their family traditions, and their mom's sacrifices. The narrative poignantly highlights the journey of self-discovery that so many young people experience--often in silence--growing up in the U.S. as the children of mixed families. Suggs's reflections are multilayered, addressing an awareness of their blended culture, concerns about weight, and processing of their emergent queer identity. The narrative is mostly in English, with untranslated Spanish interspersed; the book might be most fully appreciated by readers with basic English and Spanish reading abilities, but the graphic format helps with accessibility. Illustrations in a limited, muted palette richly portray the sights, sounds, and scents of Crís's Mexico, along with the warmth they feel for immediate and extended family. An epilogue with photos explains this narrative's source as "a combination of events from two solo trips to Mexico."

Reviewer: Nicholas A. Brown | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) PS Starting with "una foto / one photo" of their deceased loved one, a group of "diez familiares y amigos / ten family members and friends" count their way through constructing an altar for Día de Muertos. The bilingual text highlights common offerings and decorations for Day of the Dead altars, further explained in an author's note, including traditional foods, candles, and flowers. Tonatiuh's stylized mixed-media illustrations, inspired by the same pre-Columbian art traditions as his cultural and historical retellings (Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns, rev. 11/20; A Land of Books, rev. 1/23), will draw readers in. The photo-collage elements give texture to the bold illustrations: "cuatro tamales" are wrapped with images of real corn husks; "cinco panes de muerto" get their depth from actual golden-baked crust. This clever counting book introduces this important part of Día de Muertos celebrations in an accessible and eye-catching format.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) PS Using an accessible conversational style similar to How Do You Say? / ¿Cómo se dice? (rev. 9/16) and How Are You? / ¿Cómo estás? (rev. 5/18)--now featuring a solicitous blue bird and a hangry orange dinosaur--Dominguez tells an entertaining, child-friendly, and mildly suspenseful story about friendship, kindness, picky eating, differing tastes, and the mollifying power of breaking bread together. While the bird offers many choices for the peckish young dinosaur to nosh, nothing sounds tasty: "'Fish? They are my favorite.' '¿Pescado? No, gracias.' 'How about lettuce? Or a salad?' '¿Lechuga o ensalada? No.'" Though the bird's dialogue is all in English and the dino's is in Spanish (color-coded), the two clearly understand each other--as will young readers and listeners, who can easily take meaning from context via the simple text and the clear, personality-filled illustrations. Rewardingly, and after a close-call near-ending (à la Higgins's We Don't Eat Our Classmates, rev. 9/18), a just-right treat--galletas--leads to satisfaction.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) PS Mia and her uncle Eddie walk through their Chinatown neighborhood to the Big Wok for dim sum. On the way--ten blocks in all--they encounter one giant panda, two stone lions, and so on, up to ten red lanterns. As Mia enjoys dim sum, she counts in reverse ("...nine fried wontons, eight shumai, seven tofu-skin rolls..."). The text is printed in both English and Chinese and ends with notes about each object's significance in Chinese culture. Hu's bright, cheerful digital illustrations of a child whose smile never wavers invite the reader to notice and enjoy the many special elements of Mia's neighborhood. A guide to the numbers one to ten in Chinese and sources are appended.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gabriel Maralngurra. This informative and visually sumptuous picture book highlights twelve creatures native to West Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory, from "One crocodile with many sharp teeth" to "Twelve barramundi swimming upstream." Each spread includes a descriptive header in English and Kunwinjku, an Indigenous language of the Bininj, with the numeral and the number color-coded ("2 Two snake-necked turtles swimming in a billabong / Ngalmangiyi bokenh kabene-djuhme kore kulabbarl") along with the name of the creature ("Northern snake-necked turtle / Ngalmangiyi"). Brief, clear paragraphs in English, with interspersed Kunwinjku vocabulary, follow, with details about each animal's behavior, diet, appearance, relationships to humans, protected status, and other information (such as how good they are to eat--or not). ­Facing pages feature gorgeous illustrations "inspired by rock art that is thousands of years old," with the creatures depicted in precise lines and crosshatching, deeply inked color blocks, strong black or white outlines, and a limited palette including ­striking matte umber backgrounds for every image. Maralngurra is cofounder of a thriving Aboriginal arts organization and (per an appended note and interview) acts as an "ambassador for Bininj culture": "I want people all over the world to learn something...and maybe come over and visit." Back matter includes more about cave paintings and about ancient Bininj art and techniques still used today; the six seasons of West Arnhem Land and their effect on flora and fauna; and a pronunciation guide.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite. Illustrated by Magdalena Mora. This book's bilingual text tells the story of a young child and his parents as they leave the United States for Mexico during the repatriation process in the 1930s--an overlooked part of U.S. history. The child's family--mother and son were born in the United States; Papá was born in Mexico--harvests pecans in Texas until new immigration policies and the threat of deportation force them to move to Mexico to keep their family together. Martínez's straightforward prose centers the boy's feelings of sadness, uncertainty, and hope as he leaves his home behind for a place he and Mamá only know about from Papá's stories. The cool colors of Mora's dreamlike gouache, ink, and digital illustrations offer reassurance as the family drives toward their future. An appended author's note details a difficult history of forced migration shared by many, while the story emphasizes the importance of family and ultimately feels optimistic. Butterflies--a contemporary symbol of the immigrants' rights movement--are included on most pages. This motif and the author's note contextualize the historically set narrative within the continued struggle for immigrants' rights.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(1) 4-6 Translated by Sara Lissa Paulson. Illustrated by Paloma Valdivia. This lavish volume includes excerpts from Neruda's Libro de las preguntas in the original Spanish alongside new English translations by Paulson. Valdivia's expansive illustrations in a limited, muted palette give readers plenty of space to dwell on each question. The questions themselves, mostly arranged as couplets, have no answers and often imaginative premises: "Who shouted for joy / when the color blue was born?" "Where can you find a bell / that rings inside your dreams?" Frequent gatefolds function as transitions between related illustrations (a peaceful mountain scene becomes a volcanic eruption, with similar changes in the flora and fauna) or as pauses between related questions ("Why do trees hide / the splendor of their roots?" [gatefold] "So, how do roots know / they must rise up to the light?"). Back matter includes notes about the source material and its meaning from the illustrator, editor, and translator. Endlessly perusable--as long as you have the elbow room--the book is perfectly pitched to encourage students to write their own question poems; pair with Kooser and Wanek's equally philosophical Marshmallow Clouds (rev. 3/22).

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022