cover image Miracle on 133rd Street

Miracle on 133rd Street

Sonia Manzano, illus. by Marjorie Priceman. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-689-87887-9

Never underestimate the power of food to bring people together—especially at the holidays. So it goes in Sesame Street alum Manzano’s warm and funny tale. When Mami’s Christmas Eve roast won’t fit in the oven, José and his Papi take the meat to the local pizza shop to cook there. The neighbors they pass on the way are all mired in holiday crabbiness—feeling lonely, frazzled, or dead broke. But hours later, when father and son carry the roast back home, its enticing smell magically melts away any bickering or complaints, leading the whole building (and the pizzeria’s owner) to Jose’s family’s apartment for a boisterous celebration. Priceman’s rainbows of color and wintry swirls of white and blue capture a bustling New York City neighborhood as Manzano confidently unfurls an urban Christmas miracle with a distinct Boricua flair. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency. (Sept.)