Family Pictures/Cuadros de Familia

Today, with her family's continuous support, courage and dedication, Carmen Garza's hopes for a brilliant future as an artist have become a reality. In gratitude to those who helped her achieve this goal, Mexican-American Garza has generously afforded readers a glimpse of her cherished childhood in a poor rural Hispanic community. Her daily activities and fond memories are related in paintings that celebrate birthdays, making tamales and finding a hammerhead shark on the beach. The vibrant, canvaslike illustrations, accentuated with ``papel picado''--images on the text pages--evoke powerful feelings of Garza's love for family and community despite the hardships she encountered while growing up. Readers of various ethnic origins should use this exemplary bilingual book as a litmus test for exploring diversities of multicultural lifestyles; Family Pictures will shed some much-needed light on society's cultural barriers. Ages 6-12. (July)