The mango tree La mata de mango

Wielding visual power in this wordless picture book, Rodriguez renders a story of a childhood friendship enacted in the branches of a mango tree. Across a wide ocean landscape, an island rises dominated by the tree. Subsequent images close in on a forest and village, and then the tree itself, planted in a container, in which two children--one brown-skinned, one pale-skinned--spend their days. From flying kites to maintaining a dovecote, the two are inseparable, until a storm carries one--clinging to the contained mango tree--away to a new land. There, amid blue-skinned human figures, the child plants the lone mango left on the branches. Bold graphic images, created with a combination of oil-based printing inks, sumi ink, and digital media, employ a tightly controlled palette and woodblock textures. An author's note, provided in both English and Spanish, concludes. Ages 4--8. (June)

In this wordless picture book, two boys make a mango tree (or mata de mango) their hideout -- napping, eating juicy mangos, and even taunting some fearsome creatures from the safety of its branches. When a vicious storm blows through their island, it whisks away the mango tree in its boat-like pot, along with one child. After a choppy night at sea, boy and tree land on another island, with unfamiliar people and vegetation. The boy plants the last mango from the tree, and as a new tree grows, it becomes a space to play and enjoy its fruit for a crowd of children. Rodriguez's striking wood block and digital illustrations in a limited color palette are dynamic and well-balanced, with the sunset-glow of a mango guiding viewers through even the darkest spreads. Although the story itself is fantastical, the author's note -- provided in both English and Spanish -- explains how Rodriguez was inspired by his own experience of migration and by the mango tree and best friend he left behind. Monica de los ReyesJuly/August 2024 p.112 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.