My Town/Mi Pueblo (Bilingual English-Spanish Edition)

August 15, 2022
Two cousins live in a pair of towns divided by the U.S.-Mexico border in this bilingual ode to cross-border kinship. A light-skinned, redheaded girl and a brown-skinned, black-haired boy start the day in their respective homes. "This is my house," she says in a front yard full of green plants and trees and a white house with orange trim. "Esta es mi casa," he says on a sidewalk in front of colorful houses. Both kids prepare for a trek across a bridge over a river into the other's town. On each double-page spread, her adventures happen on the verso, while his unfold on the recto, cleverly echoing the same border that separates their towns. Similarly, the girl narrates her visit to her cousin's Mexican hometown in English, and the boy shares his escapades with his prima on the U.S. side in Spanish. Solis' amiable English and Spanish texts serve as one-to-one translations of each other (the sole difference being the use of the pronoun ella for the girl and he for the boy), featuring similar content in differing contexts. In both towns, each cousin shows the other a colorful market with "comida deliciosa" and people speaking "idiomas diferentes," festive holiday celebrations, and family dinners where "food and stories and laughs" flow. Each hometown's idiosyncrasies mainly arise through the vibrant, cozy artwork, where each pueblo features bustling, distinct neighborhoods. Heading back home at the end of the day, each cousin crosses back through the guarded border walls, wishing for simpler crossings. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Sweet, good-natured musings on border life. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2022
This enjoyable bilingual picture book highlights cousins on each side of the U.S./Mexico border. English text narrates the U.S. (girl) cousin's point of view, and Spanish text narrates the Mexican (boy) cousin's. Rather than being a direct translation, the words are unique to each character; although the cousins are relating the same basic information, their stories are refreshingly authentic-sounding on their own. The text is simple enough for young bilingual readers or for anyone learning either Spanish or English, making this a great family, classroom, or library read-aloud. Uribe's illustrations provide a depth of interest and busyness that allow viewers to fall into the pictures, looking for differences and similarities between the Mexican and U.S. towns and families shown. Uribe provides a representative balance of all colors of people on both sides of the border and within each family. In fact, sometimes it's unclear which house/town/country pictured is which (although we see more white people on this book's U.S. side despite most actual U.S. border towns being sixty percent Hispanic/Latine). The book does address border crossings, mentioning long lines and showing security officers and barbed wire, which comes off as realistic without being heavy-handed. Lara K. Aase

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2022
This enjoyable bilingual picture book highlights cousins on each side of the U.S./Mexico border. English text narrates the U.S. (girl) cousin's point of view, and Spanish text narrates the Mexican (boy) cousin's. Rather than being a direct translation, the words are unique to each character; although the cousins are relating the same basic information, their stories are refreshingly authentic-sounding on their own. The text is simple enough for young bilingual readers or for anyone learning either Spanish or English, making this a great family, classroom, or library read-aloud. Uribe's illustrations provide a depth of interest and busyness that allow viewers to fall into the pictures, looking for differences and similarities between the Mexican and U.S. towns and families shown. Uribe provides a representative balance of all colors of people on both sides of the border and within each family. In fact, sometimes it's unclear which house/town/country pictured is which (although we see more white people on this book's U.S. side despite most actual U.S. border towns being sixty percent Hispanic/Latine). The book does address border crossings, mentioning long lines and showing security officers and barbed wire, which comes off as realistic without being heavy-handed.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)