¿Y yo qué puedo hacer? (What can I do?)

Reviewed by Ann Welton, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA -- Críticas, 10/1/2008

Campanari, José.
illus. by Jesús Cisneros. Spain: OQO Editora. 2008. 32p. 978-84-9871-048-9. $17.95.

Gr 3-6–Señor Equis lives quietly on the fourth floor of a building in a neighborhood of tree-lined streets. He is a creature of habit, and one of those habits is reading the morning paper. Unfortunately, the alarming stories he reads cause him to worry constantly. So much is wrong with the world! As he frets, a question wiggles its way into his consciousness: "¿Y yo qué puedo hacer?" (What Can I Do?). The question bounces around in his brain so much that while leaning out his window one morning, he asks it out loud. To his great surprise, his neighbor below asks him to go to the store to fetch her some bread. She has injured her leg and cannot take the stairs. The next day, confronted by a mother and her sick child, the question pops out again. Señor Equis arranges a ride to the hospital. Next, he feeds a hungry man. Through it all, he finds that he is less worried because he has learned that he can help people and thus make a difference. As a book to stimulate discussions about the ways in which we can change the world, this one could hardly be better. The beauty of its softly colored mixed-media illustrations complements the rhythmic prose, and its gentle humor infuses the whole and saves it from being saccharine or didactic. This book is highly recommended to all who are willing to appreciate it.

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