Chavela and the Magic Bubble

Chavela, who loves chewing gum, buys a pack of “Magic Chicle,” and the enormous pink bubble she blows propels her over the jungles of the Yucatán. “Down below, chicleros were making zigzag cuts in the tree trunks and collecting the dripping chicle in bag sacks.” Chavela lands on a “magic” sapodilla tree where she meets another girl; after her flight home, Chavela learns that the girl was in fact her own abuelita as a child. It's a somewhat opaque story, though Morales's luminous acrylics in rich, candy hues infuse it with a homespun magic. Ages 3–7. (May)