School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In Quinito's Neighborhood (Children's Book Press, 2005), an appealing youngster took readers on a tour of his community. Now he returns to introduce children to opposites as he experiences them with his family. Quinito is the middle child in a family full of extremes: his older brother runs "fast/rapido," whereas his baby sister runs "slowly/despacio"; his Papi is "neat/ordenado," but his brother is "very messy/muy desordenado." Quinito admits that he is a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but mostly, "I'm just me, Quinito/yo soy yo. Soy Quinito." Ramirez's stunning illustrations are characterized by the use of thick, splotchy paint on textured canvas, expressionistic lines, and vividly colored figures outlined in black. Numerous action words make this book a great read-aloud for children learning opposites or for those studying familiar opposite words in a second language. Simple vocabulary and clear and consistent text placement also render this title appropriate for newly independent readers. A bilingual glossary of opposite words is appended to ensure that nothing gets lost in the translation.-Madeline Walton-Hadlock, San Jose Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
K-Gr 2-This sequel to Quinito's Neighborhood (Children's Book Press, 2005) is a clever book of opposites. Beginning with his family's wake-up habits, Quinito notes that while his baby sister gets up early and his older brother gets up late, he wakes up at "just the right time." And so, he goes on to compare short and tall, young and old, neat and messy, rainy and sunny, sad and happy, fast and slow, up and down, high and low, quiet and loud, long and short, left and right, night and day, and awake and asleep. The deceptively simple text manages not only to compare the words, but to paint a re-assuring portrait of a happy child in a loving and supportive family. The few points of conflict, such as a group of noisy boys playing next to a sleeping baby, only serve to give the narrative verisimilitude. Ramirez's deep-hued oil-on-canvas primitive artwork has a childlike directness combined with a near flawless sense of composition and weighting. His paintings are a pleasure to look at-and warrant repeated perusal. Young listeners will be drawn in by the charm of the confident young narrator and the complementary illustrations. An excellent introduction or reinforcement of the concept of opposites, this is also just a good family story. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) Readers again visit Quinito's Neighborhood (2005) and follow him through a day as he describes, in both English and Spanish, his family, friends, and activities in terms of opposites: "My Mami is short. My Papi is tall. I'm not short. I'm not tall. I'm just the right size. Mi mami es baja. Mi papi es alto. Pero yo no soy ni bajo ni alto. Yo soy del tamano justo." He points out who is neat and who is messy, how it makes him feel when the day is rainy versus sunny, how to climb up, slide down, and swing both high and low. The "opposites" words are boldface in the parallel English and Spanish text on each spread, in a generously sized font on colored panels next to one-and-a-half-page illustrations. The naive-style paintings in warm colors over black (leaving bold black outlines reminiscent of David Diaz's woodcuts) are both comforting and energy-packed, and read well from a distance. Full of images and words that will engage preschoolers, and brief enough to be read in both languages at storytime, this works on multiple levels as a book of opposites, as an exposition of bilingual vocabulary (including a glossary at the end), and as a portrayal of a kind of family and neighborhood that is still hard to find, done this well, in picture books. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Quinito--of Quinito's Neighborhood (2005)--returns with a plethora of opposites as he escorts readers through his family's bilingual activities with Mami, Papi, little sister Clara and brother Juan. Readers learn his parents/padres have long hair/pelo largo, he has short hair/pelo corto, and hermanita Clara has almost no hair/casi no tiene pelo. While Quinito, Juan and Clara are young/jovenes, Grandpa and Grandma are old/son viejos. Some are neat/ordenado and some are messy/desordenado. Bold, bright double-page gouaches on textured canvas illustrate this cocoa-skinned Latino family inside and outside their home playing, working, reading, eating and finally retiring after a typical day. A dual text of English above an equally matched Spanish version will have preschoolers relating to the familiarity of Quinito's day and night activities, while children in a bilingual environment will appreciate the opposing features of each in two familiar languages. A glossary of bilingual terms summarizes all contrasting concepts. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The author-illustrator team that created Quinito's Neighborhood (2005) now focuses on family fun in a book about opposites, which is also a celebration of differences. English and Spanish appear on each double-page spread, accompanied by large, bright acrylic illustrations, with shapes thickly outlined in black, that picture Quinito as the middle kid in his family. He and his brother and little sister are young; Grandma and Grandpa are old. Papi is neat; Quinito's little brother, who leaves his toys everywhere, is messy. When it's rainy, Quinito is stuck inside and sad; when it's sunny, he happily cycles outdoors. The appended bilingual glossary of opposites will inspire them to return to the exuberant scenarios in the pictures.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist
