Nene Bubu: El tesoro de Nene Bubu/ La canción de Nene Bubu/ El huevo de Nene Bubu (Box set). [Nene Bubu: Baby Owl’s Treasure/ Baby Owl’s Song/ Baby Owl’s Egg (Box Set)]

By staff -- Críticas, 9/15/2007

PreS–The three sturdy board books in this collection present vignettes from the arboreal life of Nene Bubu. The little owl adapts to his friends “stealing” the songs he makes up, figures out exactly what constitutes a treasure, and comes to understand why someone might want to hatch out of an egg. Imbued with a sense of security and familial love, the simple story lines have immense child appeal. Relations between Nene Bubu, his little brother, and his mother are at once comical and entirely realistic. (Mom’s sly method of reading a book while keeping her peppy young son occupied with hatching out in El huevo will certainly resonate with parents). Translated from the French, the wry texts are beautifully matched with simple, expressive full-color line drawings. The combination yields a dry humor that will appeal to adults even as it speaks to the sensibilities of small children. Every bit as appealing as Eric Hill’s Spot series (Putnam) or Tomie dePaola’s Marcos (Putnam, 2003), Nene Bubu marks a grand new entry to board-book literature for the very young. Suitable for ELL classrooms, this set is recommended for bookstores and public libraries.—Ann Welton, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA