Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"Can you spot the essential workers and their workplaces?" Reflecting on the early days of Covid-19, this interactive picture book from Delacre (Turning Pages) considers the concept of essential workers via a neighborhood game of "Veo, Veo"--"I Spy." When "a bad virus--/ too easy to catch/ in small, crowded places" closes Rosita's Café, Marisol's Mami, a cook there, spends more time at home. Curious about who continues to work, Marisol determines "just the game for Pepito, Mami, and me" to play: spotting "los muy necesarios" around town. As the masked-up family chats in English and Spanish, they spot a trash collector, a nurse, chicken-plant employees, a bus driver, firefighters, a pharmacist, and more, all in the midst of keeping things running. Collage-style art adds depth and texture to vibrant pages that portray a busy, largely brown-skinned community, offering readers much to find throughout. Alongside the gamified plot, the family's own errands--taking food and medicine to loved ones, queuing at a food pantry for themselves and for others--underline themes of essential community care. Includes a seek-and-find map and author's note. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3--Readers join Marisol, younger brother Pepito, and their mother in a game of "I Spy" around the neighborhood in this charming story. The Latinx culture of the family is reflected in their speech, names, warm skin tones, and the delightful food Mami prepares. Mami speaks Spanish and the children reply in English during the game. The cafe where Mami works has been closed during the shelter-in-place phase of the recent pandemic. Marisol asks if "other people have work?" and Mami replies that those who are "muy necesarios" are still on the job. As the family takes a meal to their cousin's home, they notice one essential worker after another. Collage illustrations capture scenes of bus drivers, pharmacists, firefighters, and others as they maintain essential services for the community. Sidewalks are nearly empty, many of the workers are people of color, and everyone wears a mask, reflecting the lockdown phase of the pandemic. As the author's note explains, and as some young readers may already need reminding, Marisol's final salute to the workers echoes the #clapbecausewecare movement in 2020 that let essential workers know they were not invisible. VERDICT Recommended for those building their collection of titles covering the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is also a wonderful choice for expanding bilingual titles on offer.--Suzanne Costner
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Siblings Marisol and Pepito spot the essential workers in their neighborhood during the Covid-19 lockdown. Thanks to the "bad virus" that closed the stores and restaurants, Mami can no longer cook at Rosita's Café. Other people, however, do have to work. "Los muy necesarios," says Mami, the essential workers who make sure there's power, water, and food. On their way with Mami to deliver food and medicine to older family members, Marisol and Pepito play a game of I Spy (Veo, Veo) to identify all the essential workers in their neighborhood. "Veo, veo," starts Marisol, "a trash collector! He has work!" Pepito sees Nurse Marco returning home from caring for sick people, and Marisol catches Vanessa and Victor hopping in the van that takes them to the chicken plant. All masked, the bus driver, firefighters, and landscaper are hard at work, too. Back at home, Marisol ("Now I see what I had not before") makes a sign celebrating the essential workers. Delacre ingeniously sets up the game of Veo, Veo as a conversation between the siblings and Mami that alternates between English and Spanish, leveraging that back and forth to acknowledge the importance of each worker during the unprecedented pandemic lockdown. An author's note further discloses that these essential workers "were disproportionately Black and Brown." Fittingly, the collage artwork features a community full of Black and brown folks in a neighborhood rendered in effervescent colors and curved landscapes; the protagonists are brown-skinned and Latine. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Essentially kindhearted. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
