( 1 reviews )
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( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 21 2006
On opposite pages, poet Herrera creates his magical poems, filled with joy and laughter, the craziness of a child's world, two cultures, two homes. Dancing with sounds and the rhythms of language, the poems are filled with vibrant images: "Chico, the smallest, just like this, Chico with circus swing arms, my papi calls me Chiquin, Don Memin, the Mayor of Nueva York in my long coast of marimbas and Puerto Rico..." (Chico, the Smallest, Just Like This, Chico) Combining cultures, this work invites participation, gleeful and enthusiastic as the food and people who come to life in these poems: "In Mama's Mexican clay bowl, an onion is born a cilantro skyscraper and a tiny sardine eye or is it a mad reddish chicken or Socrates my cat the only one that scratches stoves..." (In Mama's Mexican Clay Bowl, An Onion Is Born) Complemented by the stylish artwork of Karen Barbour, these pages beg to be read aloud, the sounds, the scents, the language of food that evokes vibrant memories, a book that celebrates life, love and a sense of place. Luan Gaines/2006.
