Donna Freedman (Children's Literature)
This wonderful collection of 22 poems, each presented in both English and Spanish, were inspired by the summers Francisco Alarcon spent in Mexico as a child. In an afterword, he writes that Mexico is a place where "all senses come alive." The poet uses those wide-awake senses to paint subtle, lovely pictures, such as the delights of going barefoot on grass ("Mother Earth loves to tickle our bare feet"), looking into a sunflower ("Somewhat a flower, somehow the sun"), or playing in the ocean ("Can question marks by any chance really be little seahorses?"). Maya Christina Gonzalez has illustrated in a simple, almost childlike style that utterly suits the words. Her paintings of adults and children together have a real warmth and sweetness. Alarcon and Gonzalez collaborated on a previous collection of children's poetry, "Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems." 1998, Children's Book Press, $15.95. Ages 4 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1998)
Francisco Alarcón's second bilingual picture book collection of poems for children is brimming with summer sights, summer sounds, and summer memories. The shorter poems in the collection are startling for their clarity and sense of perfection as they describe a summer-related feeling, aspect of nature, or memory in as few as eight words. The slightly longer poems sing with the cadence of personal story as they chronicle experiences specific to a child of Mexican heritage, but they are no less accessible than the shorter poems to any child who has ever loved language, or who has attached meaning to specific people and places. This Spanish/English collection, like Alarcón's earlier Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems (Children's Book Press, 1997), is illustrated with Maya Christina Gonzalez's celebratory paintings that reflect a child's joy in nature and family. CCBC categories: Poetry. 1998, Children's Book Press, 32 pages, $15.95. Ages 7-10.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1998)
With the alternate title, Del Ombligo de la Luna y otros poemas de verano, this exuberant collection, in both English and Spanish, is illustrated in bold, brilliant swathes of color that recall Mexican folk art and textiles. Each poem sits near its twin, and it's fun, even for non-Spanish speakers, to compare the two versions and learn the words. Most are simple and celebratory: the sound of a dog's bark in the two languages; a favorite cow named Mariposa; the joys of an aunt's breakfast. AlarcOn celebrates summers spent with relatives in Mexico, where a grandmother taught him that Mexico is Aztec for "bellybutton of the moon." Some, poems, such as "Water Wheel/Rueda Agua" and "Sea/Mar" are shaped onto their accompanying image. A few, such as "Girasol/Sunflower," are tiny and perfect in either language: "algo/de flor/algo/de sol" translates to "somewhat/a flower/somehow/a sun." Ideal for summer story hours or warm reminiscing all winter long. 1998, Children's Book Press, $15.95. © 1998 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 1999)
In twenty-two poems, each presented in Spanish and English, Alarc_n evokes his childhood summer vacations in Mexico. Memories of both people and landscape are sprinkled with vivid images, such as that of the "Summer Sun": "luminous / orange / hanging / from the tree / of noontime." The joyful illustrations add an almost tactile quality to this truly bilingual collection. Category: Nonfiction-Literature. 1998, Children's, 32pp, $15.95. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.