Young Pablo Neruda, while a lonely Chilean diplomat in Sri Lanka, adopts a mongoose as a pet, and when the neighbors fear snakes, he and Kiria help out, in a story that includes background on his life and accomplishments. - (Baker & Taylor)

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 2–4—This series of bilingual English-Spanish books tells the stories of six important figures of the Hispanic world: José de San Martín, Pablo Neruda, Simón Bolivar, Gabriela Mistral, Miguel de Cervantes, and Gabriel García Márquez. Children will come to know some of the most significant icons of Hispanic culture as they turn the pages of these books, created by renowned Hispanic authors and illustrators. This series provides an in-depth look at the setbacks and triumphs of each figure, offering a broad scope of historical, cultural, and artistic information. Each well-translated biography is a bit different from the others in the series; for example, the book about Mistral includes samples of her poetry on each page, while the biography of de San Martín is written in blank verse. Other books contain dialogue between characters or third-person narration about the life of each figure. This series contains a variety of illustration styles: painterly and watercolorlike, cartoon and digital-style renderings, as well as soft pencil artwork. Images accurately complement the events of each story. Each title includes a bilingual glossary, which will support vocabulary development and reading comprehension, as well as a condensed biography of each subject. Personal anecdotes from books' creators about why they chose to write about each icon can also be found in the final pages. Librarians may consider this series useful as part of their Common Core collection, especially for bilingual students.—Natalie Braham, Denver Public Library