Starred Review ALA Booklist (Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 1994)

Starred Review Diego and David are good friends. Their families are migrant farm workers who travel all the time--from crop to crop, season to season. The consistent, connecting thread in their lives is the sound of the radio--in the field to ease the picking and in the truck during long night rides. It's also there when the families part, as Diego's family sets out for Washington to pick apples. Once at the orchards, Diego hears KMPO, farm worker's radio and, longing to find David again, calls the radio bulletin board with a message: Hello, David! This is Diego. Are you here? The typeface is large and clear, with the English and Spanish texts (both handled well) separated by thumbnail watercolors that effectively coordinate with the full-page art on the facing page. The plentiful, naive-style paintings contribute a solid sense of place and reflect the strong family ties and efforts at community Dorros conveys in his story. The final illustration is a smiling David hearing Diego's message on the radio. (Reviewed Jan. 15, 1994)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1993)

Diego loves to listen to the radio while he travels with his family of migrant farm workers. The atmosphere and the details in the illustrations and vignettes that portray the family's lifestyle are the strengths of the attractive bilingual book, which has an original theme and a satisfactory plot. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

As Diego travels with his family looking for work—picking melons near Phoenix, cherries in California, apples in the Northwest—he tunes in to local stations, Spanish, English, or both; that's why his friend David, whom he hasn't seen since they picked cabbages on the Texas border, calls him Radio Man.'' When Diego relays a message through a call-in show in Washington, David hears it and they meet again. Dorros's colorful, simply drawn illustrations have a pleasing naivetC and include some nice details—Mama, glimpsed in the rearview mirror, dozing on an all- night drive; an owl nesting in a saguaro cactus while the family listens tothe Night Owl'' on ``KKTS, Cactus radio.'' Both the Spanish and English texts here incorporate context-defined words from the other language, in the natural manner of those becoming more fluent. An upbeat but largely realistic picture of migrant life—and an entertaining boost to bilingualism. (Picture book. 4-8)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

PW called this story of the son of migrant workers """"noteworthy in presenting a protagonist who would be just as interesting in another milieu."""" Spot art on a white page separates the English text from the Spanish; the facing page features a full-bleed painting. Ages 6-10. (Sept.)