For Lucy, a young visitor from south of the border, the Ohio home of her aunt and uncle is a very exotic place. Her Uncle John greets her with the strange-sounding "How'r you?
" and the Midwestern landscape has "no banana groves in sight. No flamingos, no lagoons." What's more, everyone except Lucy speaks English—even Sparky the dog. Chapra (Amelia's Show-and-Tell Fiesta
) makes excellent use of the bilingual text, underscoring the contrast between Lucy's discomfort and growing ease with her new surroundings (the English text appears at the top of each page, the Spanish at the bottom), while Escrivá's (¡Pío Peep!: Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes
) subtly stylized, mural-like full-page and spot illustrations exude empathy for Lucy in her struggles. Their heroine finally reaches her breaking point (a tearful exit from the family table) but the soothing tones of the prose, and the gentle contours and textures of the drawings assure readers that all will be well. Sure enough, Lucy realizes that Sparky is muy simpático
—a moment Escrivá wryly conveys with Sparky gamely allowing Lucy to ride on his back—and this new friendship inspires her to ask her cousin Robby to teach her English. By book's end, Lucy has become a confident doggie wrangler, and readers—whether they are budding bi-linguists or no—will declare this story muy bueno
. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)
