★ 07/30/2018
It’s Carmela’s birthday, and she’s finally old enough to accompany her big brother on his errands. On their way to the laundromat, Carmela finds a puffy white dandelion to blow. De la Peña captures with a fine ear the tone of their sibling dialogue: “Did you even make a wish?” her brother asks scornfully. With delicious inspiration, Robinson renders the wishes Carmela considers as papel picado decorations like those hung for her birthday. She wishes for a candy machine; she wishes her mother could sleep in one of the hotel beds she makes every day; she wishes her father could get his papers fixed “so he could finally be home.” Carmela jingles her bracelets: “Why do you have to be so annoying?” her brother snaps. “It’s a free country!” she retorts. But when she takes a tumble, crushing her dandelion, his impatience melts—“You okay?”—and they share a magical wish-making moment. The award-winning team behind Last Stop on Market Street portrays Carmela’s Spanish-speaking community as a vibrant place of possibility, and Robinson’s acrylic-and-cutout spreads introduce readers to street vendors, workers in the fields, and sweeping views of the sea. Sensitively conceived and exuberantly executed, Carmela’s story shines. Ages 4–8. Author’s and illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
Praise for Carmela Full of Wishes:
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Most Anticipated Fall Book – Ages 3 to 5
An Amazon Best of the Month Pick October 2018 – Ages 3 to 5
An Amazon Editor’s Gift Pick - Ages 3 to 5
A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Children's Book - Fall 2018
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2018
A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book of 2018
Four Starred Reviews
★ "The award-winning team behind Last Stop on Market Street portrays Carmela’s Spanish-speaking community as a vibrant place of possibility, and Robinson’s acrylic-and-cutout spreads introduce readers to street vendors, workers in the fields, and sweeping views of the sea. Sensitively conceived and exuberantly executed, Carmela’s story shines."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “Full of rich details, sharp and restrained writing, and acrylic paintings that look textured enough to rise off the page . . . Another near-perfect slice of life from a duo that has found a way to spotlight underrepresented children without forgetting that they are children first.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “Carmela’s journey of wishing, waiting, and wanting resonates on many levels; an important addition to bookshelves everywhere."—School Library Journal, starred review
★ “[A] beautiful book about the love of siblings and community. . . . A must read for everyone.”—School Library Connection, starred review
Praise for Last Stop on Market Street:
Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
A New York Times Bestseller
“It’s also the warmth of their intergenerational relationship that will make this book so satisfying, for both young readers and the adults sharing it with them.”—The New York Times Book Review
★ “This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“That material poverty need not mean spiritual or imaginative poverty becomes beautifully clear in the quietly moving pages of ‘Last Stop on Market Street,” a picture book by Matt de la Peña filled with Christian Robinson’s vibrant naïf illustrations.”—The Wall Street Journal
★ “Like still waters, de la Peña and Robinson’s story runs deep. It finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared by an African-American boy and his grandmother.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Matt de la Peña’s warmhearted story is musical in its cadences…Christian Robinson’s angular, bright illustrations are energetic and vibrant... [A] celebration of the joys of service, the gifts of grandmothers and the tenderness that the city can contain.”—The Washington Post
★ “De la Peña and Robinson here are carrying on for Ezra Jack Keats in spirit and visual style. This quietly remarkable book will likely inspire questions… it will also have some adult readers reaching for a tissue.”—The Horn Book, starred review
“The sharp illustrations — in bold, and cheerful primaries — get CJ’s restless energy and curious postures exactly right. The voices of CJ and his grandmother carry the story along in subtle point and counterpoint so that at this book’s quiet close you feel like you’ve been listening to a song.”—The Boston Globe
★ “With the precision of a poet, Matt de la Peña chronicles a boy's heartwarming Sunday morning routine with his nana. Christian Robinson's uplifting palette and culturally diverse cast brightens the rainy-day backdrop.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review
★ 09/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Today is Carmela's birthday, the long-awaited milestone that means she may accompany her brother to town. To Carmela, this is a wonderful adventure despite the mundane nature of the trip—washing clothes at the laundromat. Naturally, her brother would rather go alone, and finds Carmela's enthusiasm exasperating. When she finds a dandelion, he stops her just before she blows the seeds away and tells her that she needs to make a wish first. The simple weed becomes a powerful talisman for the child, and she holds it tightly, helping one-handed with the laundry as she contemplates the perfect wish. Carmela's ideas about what to wish for realistically range from an endless supply of candy to, "Imagining her mom sleeping in one of those fancy hotel beds she spent all day making for fancy guests." And, "Imagining her dad getting his papers fixed so he could finally be home." Each of her dreams is cunningly portrayed as a papel picado flag. Robinson's textural cut paper and paint collages portray a busy neighborhood and make even the most prosaic settings sing with life and beauty. When a stumble causes Carmela to lose her dandelion and all the wishes that it represents, her brother comes to her aid and shows her, and readers, something truly beautiful. The ending is just open-ended enough to satisfy while leaving plenty of room for discussion. VERDICT Carmela's journey of wishing, waiting, and wanting resonates on many levels; an important addition to bookshelves everywhere.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN
★ 2018-08-14
On her birthday, a young girl accompanies her brother on his errands for the first time and makes a wish, but not exactly in the way she was expecting.
When readers meet 7-year-old Carmela, she is scootering past workers in fields, excited to tag along with her older brother on her birthday. It's fun for her, but it's also necessary: Their mother works in housekeeping for a fancy hotel, and their father was a day laborer who is no longer home. As they run errands, Carmela plays the annoying little sister, but when she falls off her scooter and loses a dandelion wish she was counting on, her brother takes her to a place where her wish is carried further than she could have imagined. This second de la Peña-Robinson collaboration after Last Stop on Market Street is no less powerful and beautiful. It touches on immigration, class, and loss without belaboring each. And it's full of rich details, sharp and restrained writing, and acrylic paintings that look textured enough to rise off the page. In one brilliant sequence, Mexican papel picado depicts what Carmela imagines, ending with "her dad getting his papers fixed so he could finally be home" and a cutout of a kneeling father embracing his daughter. It's a bracing page, the best in the book, and just as sublime as the text.
It's another near-perfect slice of life from a duo that has found a way to spotlight underrepresented children without forgetting that they are children first. (Picture book. 3-8)
Author Matt de la Peña narrates this spare audiobook for young children, and his beautiful words need no embellishment. It’s Carmela’s birthday, and she’s finally old enough to accompany her big brother on his errands. Outside, Carmela finds a puffy dandelion to make a wish on. Her wishes reflect the simple joys of childhood but also reflect the complex realities of a child of working parents. De la Peña’s voice captures Carmela’s innocence along with the pitch-perfect sibling dialogue, including her older brother’s impatient annoyance. But when she takes a tumble, listeners can hear his concern. Carmela’s story shines, and listeners will imagine her vibrant oceanside community as her dandelion seed wishes sail into the sky above the sea. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Author Matt de la Peña narrates this spare audiobook for young children, and his beautiful words need no embellishment. It’s Carmela’s birthday, and she’s finally old enough to accompany her big brother on his errands. Outside, Carmela finds a puffy dandelion to make a wish on. Her wishes reflect the simple joys of childhood but also reflect the complex realities of a child of working parents. De la Peña’s voice captures Carmela’s innocence along with the pitch-perfect sibling dialogue, including her older brother’s impatient annoyance. But when she takes a tumble, listeners can hear his concern. Carmela’s story shines, and listeners will imagine her vibrant oceanside community as her dandelion seed wishes sail into the sky above the sea. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
