LITTLE FISH

In this irresistibly impish import, a boring day turns decidedly otherwise when little Rosa brings home a tiny, parti-colored fish that has jumped out of the sea into her lap. On a diet of her crusty corn rolls, sweet cassava cake, and tortillas with lobster and cactus slices, the fish immediately outgrows a bowl, a tub, and soon even a trough outside—so at her grandmother’s command, Rosa gathers several friends to help her haul it back through the sleepy town to the shore. A dark-eyed beauty with long, flyaway braids, Rosa poses vivaciously in te Loo’s sandy Mexican settings, and the fish’s benign look, along with such visual jokes as the teetering pile of tortillas Grandmother balances on her head, or the huge, extravagantly decorated cake Rosa serves her friends at the end, further brighten the tone. Fans of Kellogg’s Mysterious Tadpole (1977) and the many folktales with a similar motif will be delighted by this engaging episode. (Picture book. 6-8)