MAYTE AND THE BOGEYMAN/MAYTE Y EL CUCO

Despite the title, González’s first book is less a scary story than a child’s-eye view of life in Puerto Rico and the importance of community. For the most part, Mayte loves to see the street vendors who pass by her house, but she draws the line at the ice cream man, the grumpy Don Aparicio, who is—she is sure—el Cuco, the bogeyman. When Mayte and her friend Pepito see Don Aparicio carrying a squirming bag over his shoulder, Mayte is certain the man has kidnapped a naughty child, either for eating or for selling in the market. But their attempt to rescue the “child” turns up nothing but two chickens, and Don Aparicio has a chance to reveal the kindness beneath the crankiness. Rodriguez’s illustrations are full-page color paintings, realistic, full of the details of life in the tropics, and perhaps a little old-fashioned. Suspenseful enough for read-alouds with younger audiences, Mayte’s tale is probably too tame for older students, who might prefer the real bogeyman in Joe Hayes’s El Cucuy (2003). Still, both Spanish and English texts flow smoothly, and even the suggestion of terror is sure to set younger hearts racing. (Picture book. 5-8)