Six-year-old Dulce loves sweets, which is fitting since her name means “sweet.” She especially relishes the candy in birthday piñatas, and she and her sister can’t wait for her own party “with candles and cake, / balloons, music and a piñata.”
Kids will eagerly follow Dulce and her sweet tooth in search of the perfect birthday treats. At the store, there are brightly colored piñatas shaped like stars, cacti, donkeys and even a guitar! How to decide?!? And what does she want to fill its belly with? There are “mountains of delicious candies” to choose from! There are mazapanes, tamarindo and sweet toffee! Crunchy wafers with teeth made of seeds and sugar-crusted sweet potato slices!
Claudia Navarro’s colorful illustrations joyfully depict two girls’ excitement at a traditional Mexican birthday celebration where hitting the piñata leads to a cascade of sweet treasures. Children—and some adults too—will enjoy identifying their favorite candies, and this bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8 is sure to inspire kids’ plans for their own birthday celebrations!
Recipient, 2022 Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature
Named to the Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Picture Books of the Year in Spanish (2023)
“Prioritizing primary colors and drawn in an upbeat folk art style, the illustrations feature bright arrays of piñatas, candies, and holiday foods, complementing the cheerful bilingual text with its bevy of cultural details. It’s a celebration worth RSVPing “yes” to!” —Foreword Review
“A charmingly entertaining bilingual (Spanish/English) picture book by the team of author/storyteller Erika Said and artist/illustrator Claudia Navarro is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections.” —Midwest Book Review
Erika Said is the author of iPoems: Poemas en Shuffle (El Humo, Querétaro, 2013) and co-author of Fuego del Aire (Media Isla, 2015). Her work has been published in Mexican and US magazines such as Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea and Círculo de Poesía. Her writing has been anthologized in numerous books, including Lados B (Nitro Press, 2018), Viejas Brujas II (Aquelarré Editoras, México DF, 2017), Along the River II (VAO, McAllen, 2012) and El infierno es una caricia (Fidaura, Mexico DF, 2011). She is a Ph.D. student in the Creative Writing Program in Spanish at the University of Houston.
Claudia Navarro, a Mexico City native, studied graphic design at the National School of Arts at UNAM. Her books include La Divina Catrina/ Oh, Divine Catrina (Piñata Books, 2020) and La Frontera: El viaje con papá/ My Journey with Papá (Barefoot Books, 2018).
