Debbi Chocolate, illustrated by David Diaz,
El Barrio
Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, 2009.

Ages: 4+

Narrated by a joyful Latino boy, El Barrio is a celebration of life in an urban Latino neighborhood with “rain-washed murals and sparkling graffiti…swollen birthday piñatas...syrupy sweet churros, ice-cold paletas…blaring trumpets, tejano, and salsa music…mariachis [that] play at all the quinceañeras….”

1995 Caldecott Award-winner David Diaz’s vibrant illustrations, often reminiscent of airbrushed murals in texture and bright colors, bring El Barrio to life for readers who may already be familiar with Nativity parades, Cinco de Mayo celebrations and the Day of the Dead, as well as for those who may be learning about these holidays and other customs for the first time. Each page is bordered with a photographic collage of cultural items: paper cut-out decorations, Day of the Dead skulls, corn-husk flowers, food, saints’ medals, beads, and mosaics.

The narrator’s tour of his neighborhood where “cousins come from lots of different lands – Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Cuba” culminates in the celebration of his own sister’s quinceañera, a fifteenth birthday party in which a mass is held in her honor, she waltzes with her father who places a glittering corona on her head, and she gives away her dolls to the younger girls of the neighborhood.

El Barrio is a refreshing change from media that characterize ethnic neighborhoods as bleak, gritty, and dangerous. Chocolate’s words, peppered with Spanish vocabulary, and Diaz’s exuberant pictures bring the culture to life in an inviting way that will make children from other cultural backgrounds keen to experience the magic of a Latino neighborhood for themselves.  Children from barrios of their own will surely recognize the customs and traditions portrayed in this book and will celebrate them being reflected with such joy.

Abigail Sawyer
June 2010