Two Worlds / Dos mundos
by Edel Rodriguez; illus. by the author
Preschool    Abrams Appleseed    32 pp.
3/25    9781419764950    $16.99
e-book ed.  9781647008390    $15.29

This spare bilingual picture book, seemingly inspired by Rodriguez’s (The Mango Tree / La mata de mango, rev. 7/24) personal story of immigrating from the Cuban countryside to an American city, features a child’s daily life in Spanish and English. Left-hand pages showcase a Spanish word (mañana, isla, pelota) and a scene representing it in a rural island landscape, while right-hand pages showcase the same word in English (morning, island, ball) in a U.S. city context. Rodriguez uses a vintage-feeling color palette heavy with teals, pinks, and powder blues in his energetic print-style illustrations. Parts of the images interact with the letters of the words on most pages, and the word chocolate—spelled the same in both languages—spans across a mouthwatering spread of cacao beans, ice cream, and candy bars. This is an effective introduction to basic Spanish and English vocabulary that also provides subtle insight into one child’s immigrant experience navigating “two worlds / dos mundos.” The child is surprised at “milk” in a carton as opposed to “leche” from a cow and puzzled at the different kinds of “fruta / fruit,” but they have an “amigo / friend”; play “música / music” passionately; and fall asleep peacefully at “noche / night,” no matter the language or surroundings.

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