![]() ![]() The story of a brown-skinned boy who “practiced/ spelling words/ in English by/ saying them in Spanish/ like-pehn-seel for/ pencil” reaching recognition as the nation’s most lauded poet offers a heartening narrative of hope: “imagine.”Ĭastillo's ink and foam monoprint illustrations are a tender accompaniment to Herrera's verse, the black lines of her illustrations flowing across the page in rhythm with the author's poetry. Herrera writes of the joy of creation and discovery, and says little about the hardships he must have undergone. ![]() Spacious, light-filled spreads by Castillo ( Nana in the City) conjure up landscapes of red earth, bright sun, and long views. When at the end you learn that you were being told this boy’s story as a spur to your own potentially amazing one, the surprise and the gratification outweigh any sense of a lesson being taught. But this poem is a masterly picture book text: Its precisely chosen words create a world you have to listen to, to think about. ![]() Lauren Castillo’s perfect illustrations - warm, deftly composed, with the sensual allure of woodcuts-are so captivating they might on their own overcome a ho-hum story. ![]()
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