Young Arturo helps Abue Rosa prepare a traditional meal for Tma Inis's new fianci. When his grandmother falls asleep, Arturo draws on memories of the matriarch's cooking to finish the meal himself. Warm, homey illustrations enliven this bilingual story and encourage vocabulary development in both Spanish and English. Recipes for some of the story's traditional dishes are included at the end.

The adventures of Arturo continue (Arturo and the Navidad Birds, 2013) as he and his grandmother prepare a Salvadoran-style welcome-to-the-family dinner for Tía Inés' fiance, Michael. The interaction between Abue Rosa and her young grandson is comfortable and loving as they go about preparing pupusas, stuffed, tortillalike fried corn cakes. Together, they settle on a pickled slaw called curtido, fried plantains, chocolate almond cake, and fruit salad for the menu. Abue sets aside the hot pupusas, complaining of a headache. Instead of taking aspirin and plowing on, she welcomes Arturo's invitation to lie down for a nap: "Why don't you rest, Abue?" "Gracias, m'ijo. I will," she says. "Call me in a few minutes and I will finish cooking." Adding this smidgen of tension to an otherwise lightweight feel-good tale appears to be this subplot's sole purpose. And it strains credulity. No nana worth her salt is going to let a headache get in her way when only the pupusas are ready—the curtido alone needs to rest in the fridge a minimum of two hours according to the appended recipe. Needless to say, Arturo's ingenuity saves the day. He hastily assembles kid-friendly substitutions to the happy amazement of all. Lewis' warm palette cocoons the characters in manifest familial love. In addition to the recipes and an author's note, a glossary featuring many Anglicized phonetic pronunciations—"OB-way" for Abue instead of "Ah-bweh"—is included. Fans of uncomplicated, familycentric stories won't be disappointed. (Bilingual picture book. 4-7)

PreS-Gr 2-A little boy named Arturo and his grandmother Abue Rosa prepare a welcome feast for Michael, the fiancé of his aunt, Tía Inés, in this bilingual story. As the two work in the kitchen, Arturo writes down the menu: pupusas (a traditional Central American stuffed flatbread), fried plantains, chicken, cabbage slaw, and chocolate almond cake. When a headache sets in, Abue decides to lie down before finishing and falls into a deep sleep. Not wanting to wake her up, Arturo takes charge, and when the guests arrive, the meal is ready, though it is not exactly the one that was planned. A special warmth clearly binds Arturo and Abue Rosa and suffuses text and charming illustrations. The palette makes heavy use of ochre, giving the book a Southwestern feel. Because of the bilingual format, some of the pages look very text-heavy. Recipes for the pupusas and the slaw are included at the end of the book along with a glossary with definitions and pronunciations, and an author's note. VERDICT A sweet portrayal of family bonds that's best shared one-on-one.Lucia Acosta, Children's Literature Specialist, Princeton, NJ