Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A family enjoys a summer day in their backyard. When they go into the house, Danny's father asks him why his pockets are wiggling. Soon frogs are jumping around the kitchen, into Grandma's lap, onto his sister's head, and into a freshly baked cherry pie. The frogs are subsequently captured and released unharmed into their natural environment. Mora utilizes language appropriate for building pre-reading skills. English and Spanish texts fill each page with simple, clear sentences. Suarez's watercolor illustrations capture a delightfully humorous moment found within a traditional family setting. The clean compositions feature bright greens, pastels, oranges, and yellows. Smiling, rounded faces with small brown eyes and simple noses give the illustrations an almost cartoonlike appearance. This book is an excellent selection for use in bilingual storytimes or with beginning English or Spanish classes.-Cristi Jenkins, Fort Vancouver Library District, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Mora continues her series of family-life vignettes with this story of some unexpected lunch guests. When Danny comes to the table with wiggling pockets, Mom and Dad ask what he has in them. Four frogs jump out and cause minor chaos. The simple text in both English and Spanish and the warm illustrations portray a loving family. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When Danny comes in for lemonade and cherry pie, out of his wiggling pockets jump a bunch of energetic frogs. They leap and splash into a sink filled with soapy water, onto Grandma's apron and sister Tina's head and into Mom's just-baked cherry pie. Oh no! Surez's signature round-faced characters have great expressiveness; Danny's glee at his "wiggling pockets" (before they empty) is infectious, and the family's looks of shock and disgust are equally clear. Mora leaves room for plenty of prediction as she creates a conclusion that requires some inference from the last jump (into the pie) to the final double-page scene, in which the family is all smiles because Danny has somehow captured his bouncing green playmates and released them onto the grass outside. The bilingual English/Spanish text will spark questions about Danny's future actions and will require readers to make the leap from hopping disaster to a happy springy solution. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
