Sonia Sanchez (2)

Daniela, the little girl narrating this book, begins by telling readers, “Evelyn Del Rey is my mejor amiga, my número uno best friend.”

Every day they play together. Daniela explains, “We are mostly the same, just like our apartments. But not after today.” A truck has come to take away all the Del Rey’s things; they are moving. The girls reassure one another:

“‘We can talk every day after school,’ I tell her . . . ‘and you can visit me this summer,’ she says. And spend the show more night!’”

But Daniela knows that everything will be different from then on:

“Evelyn Del Rey is moving away.
So she won’t be right here anymore.”

Daniela’s mama tells her not to be sad, that they will both make new friends. But Daniela says to herself:

“I know she will always be my first mejor amiga, my número uno best friend . . .”

The last panel shows Daniela as an older girl, smiling over a letter, presumably from Evelyn.

Illustrations by Sonia Sánchez are vividly colored and full of movement. The lines are simple, but emotions are clearly limned.

Evaluation: What can compare to the close friendship of two little girls, or the feelings that ensue when one of them must move away? This book, intended for ages 4-7, captures both of those aspects of life with skill and compassion, and ends on a hopeful note that relationships don’t have to be lost just because someone is moving away. show less

Evelyn and Daniela are "almost twins," and so are their apartments. Evelyn invites Daniela over to play, "just like today is any other day," but it isn't - "not after today." A moving truck "with its mouth wide open" waits, "ready to gobble up Evelyn's mirror with the stickers around the edge," and too soon it is time for a last photo together, a last hug, a last secret handshake. Each girl presses a sparkly sticker to the other's cheek, and both cry as they separate. "Evelyn Del Rey is show more moving away. So she won't be right here anymore." Parents offer comfort - brown-skinned Daniela lives with her Mami, darker-skinned Evelyn with her Mami and Papi - and the final page-turn shows an older Daniela reading one of many letters from Evelyn, proving that the two remained each other's "mejor amigas, numero uno best friends."

I have yet to read this book - silently or aloud - without tearing up.

The autumn-toned art is full of detail, from the girls' movements and expressions to the interiors of their buildings. show less

I liked the first collaboration between Florian and Sanchez. I was eager to see if they could repeat their poetic, humorous, and sweet collaboration with one of my favorite animals - bears - and they did. A series of colorful, plump bears fill the pages as they frolic through the spring, summer, and autumn days. It's not all fun and games though - there's climbing trees for honey, collecting bugs and berries for family feasts, biking across the mountains, and exploring the forests. This show more silly story mixes fact and fiction equally, showing bears diving for salmon in one picture and biking vigorously across rocky hills in the next. The rhyming text will take a little rehearsal to read smoothly as Florian likes to mix up the rhythm. I really like Sanchez' sketchy illustrations, full of humorous expressions, dancing bears, and splashes of color. Usually I prefer more fact-based books when I'm looking for stories about animals, especially hibernation and bears. I think this would work well in a hibernation or fall storytime though, just because it will get even little kids thinking about how to figure out which things are true and which aren't in a story. Obviously bears don't ride bicycles, but do they eat bugs and berries? How do we know which are things bears can and can't do? This would also mix nicely with a storytime on family get-togethers, since many scenes feature the bears celebrating together as a family. Verdict: Match this with Sayre's Eat like a bear and Arnosky's Every autumn comes the bear for a great fall storytime. ISBN: 9781499804621; Published 2017 by little bee; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less

While I personally like urban gardening picture books, I rarely buy them - they're not very relevant to my community. We're a cross between suburban and rural - a class may include kids who live and work on a farm, kids with chickens in the backyard, and kids who have never been out of town and don't know where eggs come from (ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration because of the huge county fair, but close).

However, I love the illustrations and the theme of this one so much that I think show more I will be adding it.

A racially mixed group of kids and parents enjoy the green of fields, backyards, and gardens. But when trucks and diggers come to town and start construction, "Brown brown, dig the ground." soon the city takes over everything. Now the green is in spots and windows, and in empty lots. But can they go from brown and gray back to green? With a lot of hard work, the green grows once again, sandwiched between the city buildings.

Back matter includes inspiration for city gardens, suggestions for helping pollinators, and a butterfly craft.

Sonia Sanchez' illustrations show the joy and exuberance of a garden and the green that grows all around, as well as the hard work it takes to clear, dig, and maintain the space. I always feel that urban garden books don't really show how much work goes into the space, but I think this book does a good job of showing all the trash clean-up and the volume of people needed to get the garden going. The pages sing with color, greens, browns, even the yellows and grays of the city streets.

Verdict: An inspiring and poetic book, a great storytime choice, or a perfect pick for a garden program.

ISBN: 9780374327972; Published 2017 by Farrar Straus Giroux; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less