cover image My First Book of Proverbs/Mi Primer Libro de Dichos

My First Book of Proverbs/Mi Primer Libro de Dichos

Ralfka Gonzalez. Children's Book Press (CA), $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-89239-134-9

Brilliantly hued, precariously naif paintings-somewhere between a Southwestern sensibility and the look of urban graffiti-illustrate this slight roundup of 27 Mexican American dichos. Each expression is reproduced in Spanish (in a banner within the art) and in English (within the lower portion of the inventive borders). Though some of these brief sayings qualify as ""proverbs,"" others snippets may baffle youngsters: e.g., ""Small but very hot""; ""You only visit the cactus when it's bearing fruit."" And several dichos, though comprehensible, fall into the category of just plain silly (""Pig out while you have the chance""). Others are woodenly translated (``Quien canta su mal espanta'' becomes ``Sing every day and chase the mean blues away''). A worthy idea for a book, yet unfortunately the dicho featured on the back jacket seems prophetic: ""It's a long way from the saying to the doing."" Ages 6-up. (Sept.)