I Love My Colorful Nails

Ben loves to paint his nails for many reasons. He likes the brilliant colors (“Pistachio and orange! A match made in heaven!” he and his friend Margarita exclaim), and the polish makes his fingers feel both familiar and strange (“He likes picking things up just to look at his hands”). But when some boys at school start in with gendered jeering (“Ben is a girly girl!”), Ben quietly stops painting his nails on school days, even after his dad paints his own in solidarity. On his birthday, Ben enters his classroom and receives a dazzling surprise. Coauthors Acosta (Little Captain Jack) and Amavisca (Bang Bang I Hurt the Moon) keep their focus tight, concentrating on Ben’s feelings and the way the boys’ taunting torments him (“He felt even sadder than the day his fish went to fishy heaven”). Loose-lined drawings with gently tinted wash by Gusti (Mallko and Dad) underscore the intimacy and loyalty of Ben’s family. This isn’t a story in which the bullied child takes things into his own hands; instead, Ben’s class helps him to realize that the bullies’ scorn doesn’t represent everyone’s feelings. Ages 4–8. [em](Apr.) [/em]