Co-Creations: Knit Together by Angela Dominguez

I LOVE TO DRAW.

MOM DOESN'T DRAW. MOM KNITS.

I THINK KNITTING IS MUCH BETTER THAN DRAWING.

WHY? BECAUSE YOU CAN WEAR IT.

Mother and daughter are both creative, but with a practical bent. Mom knits useful things, like a wool hat with a cat face and a scarf and mittens for her little daughter. It seems both of them like to walk on the cold and windy wintry beach together.

But the little girl decides that she need to learn to knit like Mom. Mom agrees to show her how to cast on the yarn and knit her stitches. Except knitting is not so easy for little hands. Soon the yarn is all in a tangle all over the floor.

No one is happy about that but their little dog, who thinks the yarn makes a great puppy toy.

Sensing a meltdown in the making, Mom tries a different tack.

WE COME UP WITH THE BEST IDEA.

WE'LL MAKE SOMETHING TOGETHER!

Daughter sets to drawing. trying to come up with the perfect design for Mom to knit. It has to be special, celebrating something that both of them love.

And after some frustrating failures, she comes up with the perfect design, The last page shows mother and daughter at the beach, watching the boats bouncing over the waves and wrapped in a knitted blanket with a beautiful sailboat design on the back.

Angela Dominguez' latest, Knit Together (Dial Books, 2015), captures just the right mood in her story of mother and daughter knit together in a common project which they can put to practical use together right away. Dominguez's black line and mixed media illustrations--ink, colored pencil, gouache, and digital color--full of movement, yet showing the affection between the two characters, tell her story well. There's plenty of gentle humor, with our girl having a bit of a sulk under the sofa table, drawing on its underside in frustration, and the antics of their little dog as he tries to get into all the action. A perfect tale for crafty parent and child to share, and right for a Mothers Day read as well.

Angela Dominguez is also the author of Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía Una Llamita (Pura Belpre Honor Books - Illustration Honor), Santiago Stays, and Let's Go, Hugo!, (see my reviews here).

Fear of Flying: Let's Go, Hugo! by Angela Dominguez

HUGO WAS A BIT DIFFERENT.

HE PREFERRED WALKING TO FLYING.

The sidewalks of Paris are said to be delightful. Being a boulevardier has its charms. But Hugo is a bird, and strolling around his verdant park is, after all, rather strange for for a bird.

Although he admires the distant Eiffel Tower, Hugo seems content to build models of it on the grass under a tree, near his burrow. (Yes, Hugo is a burrowing bird!)

And then one day Lulu notices him. Lulu is a lovely little bird who can see the famous landmark from the treetop and invites him to fly with her to the Eiffel Tower .

Hugo cannot admit that he is afraid to try to fly, so instead he invites Lulu for a stroll through the park.  The two hit if off, but Hugh is hard put to come up with reasons why he cannot fly with Lulu to the Tower. His ploys work at first: his feathers need to dry, he says, and then he points out, that it seems to be getting too dark to fly. Lulu seems disappointed and takes her leave as she takes to her wings.

HUGO'S HEART SANK. HE'D NEVER SEE THE EIFFEL TOWER NOW!

WHAT IF HE NEVER SAW LULU AGAIN EITHER!

Luckily, Hugo meets a mentor, an night owl named Bernard, and confesses his fears of flying.

"EVERYONE IS AFRAID OF SOMETHING," Bernard said.

Hugh is encouraged by Bernard's offer to help him practice his liftoff, and when Lulu returns, he's still a bit fearful, but ready to try his wings in a flight to the Tower.

In her first book, Let's Go, Hugo! (Dial Books, 2013), artist-illustrator Angela Dominguez illuminates this light story of first-time fears conquered with lovely, light-as-a-feather tissue-paper collage illustrations, as Hugo and Lulu lift off together for their next adventure. "What sets this story apart...is Dominguez's delightful ink and tissue paper collages....A charming little ode to overcoming fear," says Booklist.

Come, Boy! Santiago Stays by Angela Dominguez

"HERE, SANTIAGO!

LOOK WHAT I'VE GOT FOR YOU!"

Most dog owners have to work hard to get their dogs to sit and stay, but this boy has the opposite problem.

Santiago won't move!

Nothing works.  The boy offers his favorite toys and tenders a game of fetch.

Santiago sits.

The boy holds up his blue leash enticingly. Want to take a long walk?  He offers Santiago his favorite sweater to wear.

Santiago simply won't rise to the occasion!

"A YUMMY TREAT?"

Dog treats don't do the trick.  When Santiago won't bite on that, the boy ups the ante with a turkey leg.  How about a hamburger on the side?

Santiago lies down definitively on the mat. This dog is not budging!

Is Santiago a bad dog?  Or is he the world's most loyal guard dog? Kids will find out when the boy's baby sister wakes and begins to wail from her crib in Angela Dominguez' latest, Santiago Stays (Abrams, 2013).  Dominguez, author of Let's Go, Hugo! (see review here) will earn the author-illustrator more fans for her subtly charming style of illustration. Santiago is one of the cutest pups on a mission in all of muttdom, and this story of a dog who does his duty is sure to win the preschool hearts. Kirkus says " Dog lovers and older siblings alike will bask in the quiet humor as they try to solve this gentle canine mystery."