WHEN WE VISIT ABUELO, I HELP HIM SELL FRUTAS.

WE SING THE NAMES OF EACH FRUIT AS WE CHANT WITH A RHYTHM.

Down the street with her grandfather pushing a cart filled with many varieties, they sing the song of their sweet juicy wares....

"MANGO, LIMON, COCO, MELON..."

Pineapples, bananas, oranges, grapefruits and limes crowd the cart at first, but from their balconies, people let down their baskets with money for their choices and pull them up for waiting children to grab. Along the street the other vendors sing their wares, from eggs to dustpans, tamales to brooms....

BEST OF ALL IS LA DULCERA, WHO CROONS SO SWEETLY IN PRAISE OF HER CHOCOLATES AND OTHER CANDIES.

Narrated by a little girl who only can visit her grandparents annually during the New Year's holiday, she describes how, between times, she lovingly keeps in touch by letter that fly between her home in the north and Cuba.

WE CAN SING RHYMES BACK AND FORTH, VERSES ON PAPER, A HUG MADE OF WORDS.

When I was in fifth grade, our vocal music songbook had a section titled "Songs of Our Land," and several were the musical calls of street vendors. The only one I can remember was, according to the caption, a Charleston, South Carolina song, "Barcolingo, Watermelon," which featured four rhythmic claps, and advertised "water-mel-lions, col' as ice, ber-ry nice...."  And that summer, believe it or not, a man carrying a tray of little baskets of strawberries came walking down my street, singing "Straw... straw... straw BEE-RIES!'" I thought, "That's a real street vendor call!" My worlds were colliding!

But although most American children won't hear  street vendors musically calling their wares, they have the new story book by the award-winning author Margarita Engle and artist Sara Palacios, A Song of Frutas (Atheneum Books, 2021), with sellers singing the delights of sweet summery fruits for sale for people who let down baskets and pull them up with fresh-picked delights.

Author Engle's cheery "Spanglish" songs of holiday food are universal and Sara Palacio's bright and tropically sunny illustrations offer youngsters a wider view of holiday events with a touch of sadness for the separation of families. 

Says Horn Book Magazine, "Engle’s text is rich in sensory details . . . Palacios’s digital illustrations are characterized by soft lines and warm colors that augment the positive mood throughout. . . Fond reminiscences and a nuanced cultural depiction make for another warm ode to Engle’s beloved isla."

A Photo-Friendly Family? The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken by Jennifer Frank

MRS. WORM LAY AT THE TOP OF A GIANT DIRT PILE, WATCHING HER CHILDREN PLAY.

SHE HOPED SHE'D ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW SQUIRMY, SLIMY, AND CUTE THEY WERE AT THIS AGE.

Suddenly Mrs. Worm has an idea. She calls a photographer, Mr. Muskrat, and makes an appointment for a family photo!

Her oldest daughter Emma Worm can't wait to tell her BFF, Ellie Chipmunk. Ellie's family has a lovely group photo, all with dazzling, big smiles! Sadly, Emma realizes that her family picture will be bereft of bright, toothy smiles.

WORMS DON'T HAVE TEETH!

Her friend Abigail Cat just has to brag about her day at the beauty salon getting her fur all foofy-foofy for her portrait.

Not an option for the Worm family, thinks Emma.

And her buddy Olivia Butterfly can't help boasting about the rainbow of colors her family flaunt in their photo. Emma realizes that that the grayish-brown of her family is not going to amaze and delight any viewer's eyes. She frets all night.

HOW WAS HER FAMILY GOING TO MAKE THEIR PORTRAIT SPECIAL?

WAIT! They can rent costumes! And what fun all the Worms have trying on fake teeth, hats, wigs, and snazzy clothes! What a family photo this is going to be!

But when they arrive at the photography studio, Mr. Muskrat stops them at the door, claiming that his next appointment is with the Worm family. And Worms do not have teeth. Or hair. Or wild colors. He's right, the Worms all agree. But we all can do one thing really well.

They can spell! And they wiggle and curl and squirm into a clever cursive pose that spells...

CHEERS

All families are different in their own particular ways, in Jennifer Frank's just published, The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken (Anne Schwarz Books, 2021), in a story that spoofs the competition between families while affirming the unique qualities that each family has. Two-time Caldecott Award-winning artist David Ezra Stein struts his comic illustrative gifts in multimedia drawings that will have kids rolling in the aisles at this one, while perhaps appreciating their own families' quirks and perks. Says Publishers Weekly, "A terrific pairing of new and veteran talent, as well as a gentle but firm nudge for any child who’s felt the pang of familial embarrassment.”

Bella Noche! Hello, Moon by Julie Downing

GOODBYE, SUN.

The shadows grow long. Sleepy butterflies cling to the underside of leaves. Song birds flit to their nests.

DAY IS DONE.

The animals sense the change, Squirrels seek their dens. Snails creep under fallen leaves. The dog dashes for the open farmhouse door to sleep inside.

But the night animals are ready to go on duty.

MOONLIGHT CALLS. COME OUTSIDE.

Foxes pounce for a burrowing mouse. Owls fly on silent wings. Raccoons chitter when they find fruit with savory seeds. Bugs chomp on juicy leaves, while mice scurry at the shadow of a cruising owl. Baby foxes scamper to the shelter of their den at the flash of lightning and crash of thunder. It's time for these nocturnal creatures to hurry home and catch a catnap before first light.

HELLO DAY! GOODNIGHT, NIGHT!

And as the now wide-awake dog dashes out the open back door, the day begins again with opening morning glories all around, in Julie Downing's just published Hello, Moon (Holiday House, 2021), a hymn for the night and a song for the new day.

In pages wreathed by maple leaves of many colors--yellow green, bright green, and blue-green for the day and lilac, mauve, and deep green for the night, woodland places with the beautiful shapes of vines, toadstools and clover in all kinds of light, author-illustrator Downing marries her gorgeous colored pencil watercolor and acrylic artwork and the rhythm and rhyme of gentle poetry in a lovely tribute to day and night. As Kirkus Reviews advises, "Whether read as Zen nature walk, bedtime story, or gentle science starter, this story begs to be visited again and again."

Intruders! The Capybaras by Alfredo Soderguit

The chickens were living on a safe, pleasant island in the swamp.

LIFE WAS COMFORTABLE. EVERYONE KNEW WHAT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO.

UNTIL ONE DAY... THE CAPYBARAS CAME.

They had long, soggy, swampy-smelling hair. They looked like guinea pigs, only big, BIGGER, MUCH BIGGER! The capybaras made the island instantly feel overpopulated.

But the capybaras could not leave because...

HUNTING SEASON HAD BEGUN.

So the chickens kindly let them stay, but not before they agreed to follow the rules:

1. MAKE NO NOISE.

2. STAY IN THE WATER.

3. STAY AWAY FROM THE FOOD.

4. FOLLOW THE RULES WITHOUT QUESTION.

But one little peeper chick was curious about the littlest capybara. He ran after him and jumped on his back! The little capybara jumped into the water with the chick on his back and swam out into the water! The scared chick called for MAMA!

PEEP! PEE-EEP!

Mama Hen rescues him and reminds him that capybaras are wild animals, and they must keep away from those alien, smelly swamp dwellers.

Fall comes and with it the capybara hunters with their guns and dogs. But one day, on the way back to their nesting house, the little chick is chased by a dog with sharp teeth. It doesn't look good for the chick, until the capybaras turn around and scare the WOOOOFS right out of the dog with their size and show of even more sharp teeth.

So now it's all for one and one for all on Hen Island. The hunters go home empty handed. Hens and capybaras live together happily ever after, in Alfredo Soderguit's little parable of coming together for the common good, The Capybaras.

Using a minamalist art style of black lines with touches of red, illustrator Soderguit's little lesson on living together proves the motto "In union there is strength," and life on the island is good again!

Publishers Weekly applauds, saying, "Featuring a cast of adorable, expressive animals, this is a simple but multilayered tale of overcoming prejudice, learning to question the status quo, and creating community."

Books By Burro!Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

ON A HILL BEHIND A TREE THERE IS A HOUSE. IN THAT HOUSE THERE IS A LITTLE GIRL NAMED ANA.

Every day Ana gets up and helps her family with the chores--bathing her baby brother, feeding the goats and collecting the eggs the hens have laid to sell in the village market. But all the while Ana wishes she were back in her cool house reading her libro, her book. She only has one, given to her by her teacher in the village school, the school that is now closed. Ana loves her book and reads it to her brother, but she wishes she could have a new one to read.

But then one day she hears the tacatac of hooves coming up the hill. Riding a burro is a man leading two more, equipped, not with saddles, but with bookshelves filled with libros. The man says he is a bibliotecaro, a librarian, bringing books to the children in the area. He reads a cuento, a story, to her and her little brother, and both of them get to choose some books from the biblioburros, Alfa and Beto

SO MANY CUENTOS!

SOMEONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR BURROS," SHE TELLS THE LIBRARIAN.

"WHY DON'T YOU?" HE ASKED.

Ana reads all her books and then reads them all again and again. She teaches her little brother his alfabetos, too. And when she's done, she gets out her paper and colored pencils and writes her own book of stories. But when will the biblioburros come back?

Ana begins to believe they are not ever coming, but then....

THE BIBLIOBURRO MAN IS BACK!

And he is happy to read Ana's story to all the children, in Monica Brown's tribute to Colombia's biblioburro librarian, Luis Soriano Bohorquez, in Waiting for the Biblioburro (Tricycle Press). Youngsters used to frequent forays to their public libraries and bookstores will be amazed to learn that a donkey loaded with books can be a library and will be intrigued with the idea of choosing books off the back of donkeys. This book is perfect for Library Week observances, and kids will be surprised to learn of checking out books from boats on rivers and harbors and of books for kids brought on the backs of camels. This is also a good time to learn about libraries on horseback or borne by mules and wagons here in the last century and still delivered by bookmobiles in the countryside or in big city neighborhoods.

Share this one along with Heather Hensen's and David Small's That Book Woman and Maggie Ruurs' My Librarian is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World.