Arroz con leche / Rice Pudding

PreS-Gr 3—A boy goes to the market to buy ingredients for rice pudding. What ensues is a poetic journey of making the sweet treat, step by step. The bilingual text is not a straightforward recipe, but could be followed to make the traditional dish. With his mom in the background, the boy adds rice to the pot and soon "the kitchen is raining little white grain drops." Parent supervision or participation is required for parts of the story, as indicated by an asterisk, as when it's time to "take the salt cellar and dance around." The remarkable illustrations are the perfect complement to Argueta's lush language. Vilela uses a printmaking technique to bring to life the simple action and turn it into something quite extraordinary. A first purchase for schools and libraries.—Shannon Dye, Peoria Public Library, Peoria, AZ