A SURPRISE FOR TERESITA / UNA SORPRESA PARA TERESITA

A young girl celebrating her birthday waits for a gift from her uncle, absorbing the sights and sounds of her city neighborhood.

Teresita wakes up to her seventh birthday knowing that a surprise is coming: a gift from Tío Ramón, who sells piraguas (snow cones) on the street. As the day goes on with no sign of him, her impatience grows, even as she recognizes her own growing maturity. So she goes outside, jumps rope, and plays, while the lively world outside her home continues. Mothers visit the bodega; children ride bikes and play stickball; grown-ups watch the neighborhood from their windows. Eventually Tío Ramón comes, giving Teresita not her usual special iced treat but a tiny black kitten, which the girl names Piragua. With painted illustrations that in near-photorealistic detail convey the emotions and activities of the many people around Teresita, the bilingual story is a simple slice of life that gets at the way so much can happen in half a day, even if the time seems to be dragging. It also conveys Teresita's awareness that she is becoming a "big girl," a more grown-up person with more responsibilities and a wider view of the world. Baeza Ventura’s Spanish translation appears beneath Sánchez-Korrol’s English text on every double-page spread.

Teresita's anticipation will ring true to any kid who's been saddled with an evening birthday party.