Sundust

In a wide-ranging solo debut, Peña (My Papi Has a Motorcycle) imagines two Latinx-cued children exploring a sweeping desertscape where, though bulldozers work “to build/ things that don’t belong,” natural elements “will always grow wild and free.” When the siblings see a trail of magenta-colored sundust streak through the sky, it lands “where no one goes anymore/ ...the galaxy at the end of our street.” As the duo explore the ample space beyond their border city’s rock wall, multimedia illustrations highlight the natural world overtaking manmade objects, then sprawling across a marvelous expanse whose soft browns and greens are peppered with saturated pinks and purples (a hummingbird, a nopal tree’s blooms, a butterfly). Following a storm, the sun’s rays render even the children part of the landscape—“We dry out.... We blend into this place”—and a final sequence pulls them into intimate communion with both the universe and an array of solar deities. When their mother’s whistle breaks the spell, the siblings find themselves changed by their outing—shining like nothing less than the sun. Speech bubbles add levity to energy-charged prose through this surreal exploration of the way the natural world endures and transforms. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Aug.)