CONFETTI

Confetti ($14.95; Oct. 1996; 32 pp.; 1-880000-25-3): The best of these poems that mix English and Spanish (``I say yo soy libre'') warmly evokes familiar touchstones of Mexican-American life. There's ``Abuelita's yellowlap,'' a ``dance-dancing panadero,'' who sings the dough to rise, and a woodcarver who ``paints open the eyes'' of animals ``found asleep/in a piece of wood.'' Most of the poems by Mora (Uno, Dos, Tres, p. 139, etc.) are more ordinary—``Sun song. Sun song. Sun song.'' The soft, dreamy illustrations, with Southwestern motifs, are contrasted with borders of sharp colors, while small geometric pieces of confetti are ``scattered'' throughout. (Picture book/poetry. 4-6)