PLB 0-688-16240-1 A thin story cloaks a list of the customs and foods associated with the sixth of January, known variously as Epiphany, Twelfth Night, or, for the Spanish-speaking family in this book, Three Kings’ Day. Carlson (Barrio Streets Carnival Dreams, 1996, etc.) has combined features of the celebrations from various Latino communities, incorporating them into the family festivities of young Anita, who tells the story. The festivities begin the night of the fifth of January with street processions featuring the wise men who followed the star to Christ’s birthplace. That night Anita walks to visit friends and family with her older brothers, who keep hurrying her and telling her she is a baby. “Is this where we can find the child?” the children sing at various houses, and those they visit send them on until the boys have had enough and decide to go home. There Anita does as custom decrees, placing her empty shoes by her bed to be filled with small gifts and candies, along with small boxes full of grass, flowers, and hay. The next morning Anita is elated to see heaps of gifts under the decorated tree downstairs, and that evening when the family gathers for a holiday meal, she finds in her piece of cake the traditional tiny doll making its finder the king, or rey, or in her case, the reina. Oil paintings lend a rich glow to an orderly but warm bilingual story. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8.)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16239-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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