Crack Goes the Cascarón: An Eggcellent Not-Just-for-Easter Shellebration!

The narrator of this upbeat holiday picture book—Toti, the self-proclaimed “King of Cascarones”—plans to get the upper hand over the family on Easter, when the confetti-filled eggs are cracked on loved ones’ heads. Toti’s careful planning includes engineering “cascarones the world has never seen,” such as some filled with slime. “When I get cracking,” the child boasts, “no one is safe, not even Abuela.” But after Toti’s careful creations disappear, an underestimated relation turns the tables. Fajardo lets the egg puns fly throughout this playful work (“You wanna hear a yolk?... Time to scramble!”), while Arreola Mendoza’s digital illustrations display the planning stage, and subsequent familial hijinks, in bold hues and sprawling lines. Characters cue as Latinx. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish. Ages 3–7. (Feb.)