Marco Flamenco. (Marco Flamingo)

Reviewed by Veronica Covington, Univ. of Texas, Austin -- Críticas, 8/15/2008

Jarkins, Sheila.
tr. by Eida de la Vega. illus. by author. U.S.: Raven Tree. 2008. 32p. glossary. hc/pap. hc ISBN 978-09794462-5-2/pap ISBN 978-09794462-6-9. $16.95/$7.95.

Gr. K+–As Marco waits for his friends, the snowbirds, to come south, he wonders where they are and why they always leave the north to visit the south during the winter. He asks Goose, who replies that he likes it where it’s warm and there is no snow. Marco wants to know what snow is, but Goose tells him, “You don’t want to know!” When he asks the ducks, they give him the same answer. But Marco does not give up. He reads his copy of Survival Tips for Birdbrains all night to find out about snow. The next morning, he decides to head north. As he flies, it gets colder and colder. He flies until he can fly no more and lands in the snow. He loves it! So he sends his friends a postcard telling them how much fun he is having. His flamingo buddies think he is crazy and wonder who would want to migrate north. At the end of the book, the readers see other animals like crocodiles, monkeys, parrots and giraffes, who have also decided to come north for the winter. This bilingual text has a list at the back of the book with English and Spanish vocabulary. Bright, colorful washes abound in the illustrations, which promote the text and flow from page to page. Marco is comical and fun for young readers. Recommended for public and elementary libraries.

Order this title