Pilgrim Codex
by Vivian Mansour; illus. by Emmanuel Valtierra; trans. from Spanish by Carlos Rodríguez Cortez
Primary, Intermediate    Em Querido/Levine Querido    48 pp.
2/25    9781646145157    $18.99

A child lives in Mexico until “one day, my dad heard a bird’s song, a beautiful song that rose up and appeared to say tihui, tihui, tihui: let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” The family embarks on a long, dangerous trek to “the other side”—the United States—walking through a forest in the dead of night, following coyotes (human traffickers), and crossing Río Bravo. Mansour’s lofty style, anchored by modern language (the narrator’s dad is “the Warrior of the Taxis”), conveys a sense of legend surrounding the family’s migration. This English version of a book originally written in Spanish retains a variety of Spanish and Nahuatl words (a glossary is appended). The text can be a bit dense, but details in the illustrations will keep readers engaged. Heavily influenced by the artwork in Mesoamerican codices, Valtierra also incorporates elements of pop art and video games into the impressive, brightly colored hand-drawn and digitally rendered illustrations. Though the book covers a dark topic, the persistence and hope of the family, as well as the creative interpretation in both text and illustrations, make for an age-appropriate introduction to this type of migration experience.

From the ">May/June 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.