Mi Familia Calaca/My Skeleton Family

Oaxacan folk artist Zárate creates papier-mâché sculptures of Day of the Dead–style skeletons that grin widely as a young skeleton named Anita introduces her family. In brief sentences that appear in English and Spanish, Anita discusses her younger brothers Miguel (“He’s a brat”) and Juanito (“He’s so cute!”), as well as her parents and other older relatives. The, well, skeletal sentences make it easy for readers to draw connections between the English and Spanish words, and Zárate’s sculptures exude personality, whether it’s baby Juanito smiling in a stroller, wearing a powder-blue onesie, or the children’s “beautiful mother,” decked out in a pink dress and pearls. Ages 1–6. (Sept.)