Guacamole: Un poema para cocinar/ A Cooking Poem

A girl in pigtails prepares guacamole for her family, which lives inside a giant, hollowed-out avocado. In unrhymed verse in both English and Spanish, the girl names the needed ingredients (“four big avocados,/ like green precious stones”), and turns the preparation into a joyful, imaginative celebration. Turning miniature, the girl and her siblings slide down slippery slopes of sliced avocado and shower in the sink with cilantro: “Mmmmm cilantro smells so good./ Mmm such a fresh,/ such a green smell.” Sada’s digitally enhanced oil paintings create bold contrasts with their festive colors—readers will practically be able to taste the “sour river of lime” Argueta describes. Ages 4–7. (Apr.)