Oscar y El Leon de Correos

Gr 1-3-Not an easy reader in the usual sense of a simply constructed story with a beginning vocabulary, but rather a story at the interest level of young readers, this story features six-year-old Oscar, who fears two things: the creature of the night and the postal lion. His father helps him search the house for the creature of the night every evening before bedtime, but the lion is more fixed he is the post-office box whose mouth serves as a mail chute. After his mother begins sending him to the post office to mail her letters, however, and his shirt catches on one of the lion's metal teeth, Oscar is sure that the night creature, too, must have the face and breath of a lion. How Oscar conquers his fears, with the help of caramels and a friendly postal employee, should entrance youngsters, as should his fearless younger sister's needling, an integral part of family life. Villamuza's illustrations are dark pastels, generally worked into the text, and they reflect Oscar's viewpoint. The print is large and inviting. This title was awarded the Spanish 1999 Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil. Coop Renner, Paul C. Moreno Elementary, El Paso, TX