WIGGLING POCKETS/LOS BOLSILLOS SALTARINES

When Danny comes in for lemonade and cherry pie, out of his wiggling pockets jump a bunch of energetic frogs. They leap and splash into a sink filled with soapy water, onto Grandma’s apron and sister Tina’s head and into Mom’s just-baked cherry pie. Oh no! Suárez’s signature round-faced characters have great expressiveness; Danny’s glee at his “wiggling pockets” (before they empty) is infectious, and the family’s looks of shock and disgust are equally clear. Mora leaves room for plenty of prediction as she creates a conclusion that requires some inference from the last jump (into the pie) to the final double-page scene, in which the family is all smiles because Danny has somehow captured his bouncing green playmates and released them onto the grass outside. The bilingual English/Spanish text will spark questions about Danny’s future actions and will require readers to make the leap from hopping disaster to a happy springy solution. (Picture book. 3-5)