Selling a Song: A Song of Frutas by Margarita Engle

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."