Booklist starred (May 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 17))
Preschool-Grade 2. As in The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (2005), Winter once again tells an inspiring story about an untraditional library, but here her setting—the lush jungles of Colombia rather than Basra’s war-torn Iraq—makes for a much lighter tale. After amassing piles of books, Luis, a voracious reader, dreams up a way to share his collection with “faraway villages.” He starts with two burros—one for himself, one for books—and heads off. Tough terrain and menacing bandits challenge him along the way, but at last he reaches a remote town, where he holds a story hour and loans titles to eager kids before returning home to his wife and reading late into the night. Winter’s captivating paintings evoke a South American feel in their brilliant palette and dense, green tropical scenes teeming with creatures, including large, orange-winged butterflies on every page. And Winter offers fresh, visual surprises. In a particularly imaginative scene, cartoon bubbles float over the children’s heads, carrying scenes from the story Luis reads aloud. Winter’s text is spare and streamlined, as usual, and here it has a particularly engaging, repetitive rhythm that builds into a lulling bedtime beat, as day turns into night. Both understated and full of life, this satisfying story is a vibrant reminder of the pleasures of books and the difference one individual can make. An author’s note fills in more about the real-life Luis and his biblioburros.
Preschool-Grade 2. As in The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (2005), Winter once again tells an inspiring story about an untraditional library, but here her setting—the lush jungles of Colombia rather than Basra’s war-torn Iraq—makes for a much lighter tale. After amassing piles of books, Luis, a voracious reader, dreams up a way to share his collection with “faraway villages.” He starts with two burros—one for himself, one for books—and heads off. Tough terrain and menacing bandits challenge him along the way, but at last he reaches a remote town, where he holds a story hour and loans titles to eager kids before returning home to his wife and reading late into the night. Winter’s captivating paintings evoke a South American feel in their brilliant palette and dense, green tropical scenes teeming with creatures, including large, orange-winged butterflies on every page. And Winter offers fresh, visual surprises. In a particularly imaginative scene, cartoon bubbles float over the children’s heads, carrying scenes from the story Luis reads aloud. Winter’s text is spare and streamlined, as usual, and here it has a particularly engaging, repetitive rhythm that builds into a lulling bedtime beat, as day turns into night. Both understated and full of life, this satisfying story is a vibrant reminder of the pleasures of books and the difference one individual can make. An author’s note fills in more about the real-life Luis and his biblioburros.
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