Just in Case. A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book

Just in Case. A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales
Illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Published by Roaring Brook Press
2008

     Señor Calavera couldn't wait to get to Grandma Beetle's birthday party. He had ironed his tie, put on cologne, dusted his hat (which now sits on top of his cover of A Hundred Years of Solitude -a hint of the magic to come), and prepped his bike.  On his way there, he heard "a moan from beyond the grave."  It was Zelmiro the Ghost, a friendly looking ghost of an old man.  Zelmiro reminded Señor Calavera that he needed to bring Grandma Beetle a gift.  "You surely must know, the best present to give a friend is the thing she would love the most."  So Señor Calavera packs up un Acordeón (an accordion), Bigotes (a mustache), Cosquillas (tickles), and un CHiflido (a whistle).  Zelmiro celebrated Señor Calavera's choices but he wondered out loud, "are they what Grandma Beetle would love the most?"
     Señor Calavera ends up collecting a gift for each letter of the alphabet -except the Z- but it has taken him so long that he's now late for the party and in his rush, he ends up crashing his bike and dropping all the presents. He couldn't believe his misforture. He had no more time and no presents at all...except for the person Grandma Beetle had loved the most: Grandpa Zelmiro!
     Just in Case is a delightful trickster tale.  Yuyi Morales has done a wonderful job of incorporating a bilingual alphabet book into the thread of a truly entertaining tale.  The illustrations are gorgeous, filled with traditional Mexican images (starting with Señor Calavera, and complete with the classic Mexican lottery game) and plenty of fun details to savor over multiple reads.  And you gotta love the ending!
     
   

Magic Box

Magic Box by Katie Cleminson
2009

Eva received a special box for her birthday. She jumped inside and when she came out she had become a master magician. Her first trick was to wish for a pet named Monty. Monty turns out to be a rather large polar bear. Next she pulls rabbits out of hats, makes things float, and throws herself a huge party with delicious food and an animal band. There's tons of dancing and, "when everyone had danced their socks off, Eva shut her eyes, clicked her fingers...and everything vanished..." Not quite.
Magic Box's illustrations are the stars of this picture book. They have a classic feeling to them with thick black outlines and coal shadows over clean white backgrounds that contrast with splashes of paint in bright colors. It's a book full of joy with an enchanting character. The picture of Eva clicking her fingers in her final act of magic is just gorgeous, and the page with Monty the polar bear dancing with Eva just makes me smile. Sweet.

The Magic Hat

The Magic Hat by Mem Fox
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa

     One fine day, a magic hat flew into a town.  The magic hat moves with the wind and lands on unsuspecting town folks, turning them into animals.  "Oh, the magic hat, the magic hat! It moved like this, it moved like that!" and then, puff! it turned an old man into a toad, a fruit seller into a baboon, a sleepy businessman into a bear, a mother and her baby into kangaroos.  A giant friendly "wizard appeared with a sign that said: STOP!" And everything when back to normal.  While the crowd discussed the events of the day, the wizard left town.  As he turns his back to us, we see him not as a giant wizard but a boy...wearing the hat "that made all the magic -wherever it sat!"
     The Magic Hat is a delightful book of magic, wonder and fun.  The repeating story patterns and rhymes will have children completing the verses right away.  The ink and watercolor illustrations are charming and full of details.  I've always loved books with a touch of magic, and this is a read aloud I keep going back to at home and in the classroom.  It's a great one to use for text innovation activities in the lower grades.